Without a paddle
by Angelmoo1
Summary: When Jessica Myers a huge 'X Files' fan gets thrown into Mulder and Scully's world after a freak occurrence she has to convince them to help her get back home! Mulder and Scully to the rescue! Changed the rating to M for the later chapters - All complete now - Thanks for reading and reviewing! x
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or x files they are owned by the god that is Chris Carter and co etc

This is set around just after Arcadia season 6.

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Jessica Myers sat in the police station feeling sorry for herself. She shifted uncomfortably in the plastic chair with her head in her hands. She knew that they were calling her parents in Somerset. Somehow she felt that they would get the same reaction as she had earlier.

Her head was spinning and she still felt nauseous. How the hell had this happened? She wondered how the hell she was going to get out of this.

She had woken on a grassy patch in a large park. She had spent what felt like an eternity lying on the grass trying to catch her breath and shake off the disorientation. A wave of nausea had hit her as she had gingerly sat up and she had dry retched as tears had cascaded down her face. She had a strange metallic taste in her mouth. Once she had stopped retching and was sure she wasn't going to bring anything up she took long deep breaths trying to calm herself down.

She was sore. Her ribs ached as if some one had pummelled her and her head was banging so hard she could barely focus. Shakily standing up she had stumbled along listening hearing snatches of conversation as people walked through the park with their kids, professionals in their suits enjoying some time away from the office kids playing Frisbee and families having picnics. She was suddenly aware that there had been a lot of American accents, all varied but distinctly American. She had come across the pay phone with a cry of relief. It had been short lived when she had managed to get some change into the phone and it had gone straight through. She had frowned at it and then realised that instead of pence and pound signs it had had dollar and cent signs.

Her brain had seemed to jam and she couldn't think straight. _Dollars?_ She had started to hyperventilate and crouched down against the phone again trying to calm herself down. A woman had been passing and had crouched down next to her to try to help her. Jessica frowned as she tried to remember the lady that had helped her. She had been vaguely aware that she had kind brown eyes and soft grey hair. She had reminded her of her next door neighbour. Jessica had told her that she was lost and that her family were in England. That she only had English money showing her the coins and notes scrunched uselessly in her hand. The woman had calmed her with a soft 'sush' and had helped her up. Then she had stepped up to the payphone and helped her dial her home number.

She had shakily listened to the long ringing tones. Her heart had skipped as she had heard a breathless hello before plummeting when she had realised it was _her_ voice.

"Hello? Eww I can hear you breathing you pervert."

"Jessica?" She had managed to croak.

After a surprised intake of breath, "Yeah?"

She had reset the phone and burst into tears again as she had felt herself dropping down to her knees. Her legs could not support her weight. The lady had held her as she cried hysterically and had told her to sit tight whilst she went for help. Next thing Jessica knew she was being gently pulled up and supported by 2 police officers and walked to their squad car.

She sighed heavily and looked around. That had been about 2 hours ago. The place sounded like an office as phones rang, fax machines chirped, computers beeped. Officers spoke in low voices to people Jessica would usually cross the street to avoid. The officers had all been really nice to her. One had brought her over a can of coke and a 'twinkie' promising her a good meal later. She had been mildly amused as she had never seen one before but vaguely remembered a thousand year old twinkie being mentioned in Die Hard. She pinged at the pull toggle on the can absentmindedly. They had obviously thought that she was some runaway in trouble or fighting with her parents and felt sorry for her. Some stupid dumb kid that got in trouble. She scowled at her coke as she took another swig. That is of course until she had started speaking; to which her British accent had sealed the impression that she was some stupid lost tourist.

She shifted position again feeling an uncomfortable tingling in her left arse cheek as it went numb.

She had no passport, no id, a pack of chewing gum and about 20 quid on her. All she had was a small clutch purse with photos of her and family/friends. She guessed her being practically incoherent in the park babbling some shit about lightening and jolts through her fingertips didn't help. She thought she may have also mentioned something about it being night and suddenly it was day. Secretly she was just pleased they hadn't put her in the drunk tank from what she had seen on the cop shows from the tv. She wrinkled her nose in distaste at the thought of a shared 'open' toilet.

She was sitting in a police precinct in down town Washington D.C. In FUCKING AMERICA! This would be so cool, so amazing so awesome if she hadn't been so shit scared and alone.

She racked her brain trying to remember what had happened before she had come too in a lovely, albeit slightly wet, park that afternoon. She had been walking up her street with the plastic bag slightly swinging. She had rented Independence Day (a classic) and bought some pick and mix sweets. Rob was due over in about 20 mins and she had just enough time to clear her room up before they would settle and watch the movie. There had been ominous clouds all day and the weather had been close, she had felt the pressure in her sinuses. Distant rumbling thunder had made her turn around and look over the horizon. She was lucky where she lived, even though it was the most boring town in the world, the storms were amazing as you could see for miles around uninterrupted. She had turned her face to the rising winds and let the warmth sweep over her like a tidal wave. And then the rain had opened in sheets and the lightening had dazzled across the sky.

It didn't matter that she was soaked. She was feeling cool and refreshed for the first time in weeks. Finally the rain had come. She had started to run up her drive still trying to watch the show but unable to because of the thickness of the rain. She frowned in concentration as she tried to remember all the details. When she had reached out to grab the front door handle she had felt a jolt through her fingertips, and somewhere around her belly button bar she had felt a pulling like a line reeling her in before she had blacked out.

It didn't make sense. She dry rubbed her face roughly and ran her hair through her tangled mane. She knew she must look a real mess. Her clothes had only just about dried out - she could smell the slight must of damp when she moved. Her soft brown hair which usually sat in long waves right down to the small of her back was tangled and smelt of rain water. She had only been wearing a pair of black tailored shorts, a soft pink racer top and black flip flops. What was left of her mascara was probably half way down her face after the amount of times she had cried today. Her eyes and nose felt sore and she was sure that they were red raw and puffy. She could feel her bottom lip starting to tremble again and had to bite down really hard on it to stop the tears welling in her eyes from falling.

"Oh My God!" She breathed as she looked up and saw THEM standing less than 10 feet away. She did a double take at David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson who were standing in their full costumes talking to one of the officers. She sat in stupefied silence for what felt like an eon. Her mind went totally blank as shock registered on her already battered and tested senses.

She felt herself raise out of her chair and sleep walk over to them. She had to confirm that it was them. The closer she got to them the more she couldn't believe that it was _actually_ them.

The officer was frowning at them watching them have a relatively tense conversation. Jessica stopped next to them with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide with incredulous admiration. They became aware of the teenager and their conversation died on their lips as they took her in.

"It's you guys ... it's really you... guys." She looked like she was at a tennis match as she tried to look at both of them. Suddenly she broke her wide eye gaze and started looking around her for cameras and crew members cringing as she imagined a very pissed off Chris Carter suddenly shouting at her for having walked into the middle of a scene.

She started blushing furiously, " I-I'mmm sor-sorry did I just ruin a shot?" Gillian Anderson was frowing at her in slight concern whilst David Duchovny simply looked at her with a bemused expression on his face.

"Are you ok?" Gillian asked her at arms length. "I am a doctor do you need help?"

She looked at the teenager with real concern,"Do you remember banging your head?" She quickly looked at the police officer for confirmation as to why this teenager was sitting in an area which was normally used to book prostitutes, petty criminals and drunkards.

She wasn't handcuffed which was a good sign that she wasn't in trouble. She quickly deduced that she was maybe around 15 maybe 16 and with the British accent maybe she had got lost whilst on holiday with her family. The officer quietly shook his head and went to move Jessica out of the way so they could carry on with their previous discussion about the man that they had just interrogated.

Jessica still stared at her and gushed almost incoherently, "I am sorry I know that I am being a total spaced out fan - you know how you always say you're so gonna be _uber cool_ if you meet your heroes but then when it happens you_ sooo_ aren't - I'm rambling now I just can't believe that I am _actually_ meeting you guys."

All three adults looked at her quite literally as if she had just landed as she breathlessly asked, " Can I have your autographs?"

"Who do you think we are?" David asked cautiously.

She looked at him in surprise, "David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson." The agents looked at each other. She frowned, he replied by raising his eyebrows and then shrugging before both turned back to Jessica.

"Who?"

She faltered slightly at the silent conversation they had with their eyes. She gasped as a strange thought occurred to her. "Mulder and Scully?" She whispered.

Both of the agents reactions, their eyes widening and their jaws falling simultaneously was the last thing Jessica remembered as she whispered "Holy Shit!"

And then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she felt herself fall backwards into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

As I mentioned before I don't own anything!

Thanks for sticking with me I will be posting more chapters as I progress with the story. Hope you enjoy it soooo without further ado... x

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Mulder leaned up against the wall in the police station staff room watching the young girl sleeping on the couch. She had passed out and they had managed to catch her before she had hit the ground, but even though she had tried to come too a couple of times she was bordering on hysteria so Scully had given her a sedative shot. She had slipped into an uneasy sleep and they had lifted her onto the couch.

He was intrigued by this girl. Scully believed that she had maybe lost her family and had maybe taken drugs which would go part way to explaining her behaviour but Mulder didn't think so. Even though she hadn't made sense when she had approached them and despite her bedraggled appearance she had been lucid. Her eyes had been tear rimmed and red but they had also been clear and focused.

Even with her dishevelled appearance, the damp clothes and make up stained face he knew that this was a girl who was usually well groomed and took care of herself. She was not likely to be the type that dabbled in anything like drugs although he had to admit that she was likely to be the type that would be drugged.

Her hair, although tangled and messy, was long, soft and smelt vaguely of coconut. Her fingernails and toenails were manicured and painted a matching pink shell colour. He also noticed she was wearing a small silver toe ring.

Her top had ridden up slightly on her flat stomach when they had moved her and he had seen a blue glittering belly bar. She was also wearing a silver charm bracelet, a silver necklace with a small diamond pendant and matching diamond studs. She was tall maybe just over 5'9, not thin but by no means overweight. She had, even at her age which he guessed to be around 16, quite a full hour glass figure, generous hips with a small nipped in waist and toned legs and arms. Looking at her face which still had the tell tale signs of her crying she was quite pretty. She had a heavy set jaw, generous pouting lips, a small button nose and almond shape eyes. Her eyelashes were long and black and her eyebrows were plucked and shaped.

Even though she was on the brink of womanhood, her face betrayed her young age. She still had the vestiges of puppy fat on her cheekbones which gave her quite an innocent look, a baby face, which he was sure would be used to full effect when it came to coaxing her parents into giving her what she wants. Most likely a daddy's girl.

He chuckled to himself. This girl would have been the type that he would have chased around school when he was her age. Until a couple of years ago tall, brunette with long legs and long hair had been his type. Now his type tended to sway more towards the petite, fiery redhead kind.

This girl had obviously been through one hell of an ordeal but he was eager to start questioning her. How did she know their names and why had she gushed about being their biggest fan. He watched her take an unsteady breath and turn her head on the travel pillow one of the officers had in his locker. His heart went out to her she was obviously shit scared and so vulnerable.

Scully stepped quietly in the room carrying 2 coffees and a manila folder under her arm. She gestured over to the table in the small dining area and put the coffees down. She quickly checked over Jessica feeling her forehead and opening each eyelid before coming back to him.

"She's out for the count I think she will be out for quite a while." Scully sat down next to him, both of them watching the girl for a couple of moments before turning back to each other.

"I feel sorry for her poor kid she must be so scared." Mulder told her in a soft whisper as he sipped at his coffee before continuing on, " What have we found on her?"

Scully tucked her hair behind one ear and sighed, " Not much. Through the British Consulate we have managed to get some details faxed over. She is a Jessica Elizabeth Myers, born 5th Feb 1983 in Watford, now lives in a small town called Yeovil in Somerset moved there 7 years ago. Lives with parents Rachel and John Myers, has younger twin sisters Claire and Emma Myers. Works on a Saturday at a local pet store. She is currently in year 11, which is 10th grade, she is a straight A student, popular and general all round good kid. A friend of the family is an officer at the police station in Yeovil he's trying to contact her relatives to inform them that she is here and to see if they can contact whoever she is supposed to be here with to reunite them. One of the officers is going to take her to the consulate later once she's awake."

"I really want to question her on how she knows us and what she was talking about." She rolled her eyes. She knew that look on his face. She could tell when his interest was piqued in something that could possibly be out of the ordinary. As far as she was concerned there was nothing strange going on. This girl had just been coming down from a really bad trip.

She glanced over to her and tried to reason with him, "Mulder I still think that she has taken something or has been slipped something. I mean come on, she could have heard someone call us by our names and the rest might well be down to nothing more than some form of LSD. She was found in the park babbling about how it was no longer night and about a lightning and a thunder storm. She told the officers helping her that she woke up on the grass soaked through with a strange metallic taste in her mouth. Well that would explain the loss of time if she was out last night and woke up hours later. The strange taste might also be a side effect to having taken something. Until I get blood tests done on her I can't be sure what she has taken but it will hopefully give us some answers."

"When she wakes we have to do a full examination. I will do blood tests and check her." She sighed heavily, "We also have to check to see if she has been raped."

Mulder nodded sadly and reached for the manila folder. Aside from the scant information there was a photo copy of a school photo. She was smiling brightly, a smile that reached her soft brown eyes. He glanced over at the figure lying on the sofa. She could not have looked any more different to the picture. In the picture she was happy and confident. On this couch she was like a broken doll, a marionette with her strings cut off.

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Mulder watched as Jessica sat cross legged on the chair at the small table sipping at her coffee.

A kind hearted officer called Rosie who had been about the same height as her just a little taller had brought her in a pair of her own jeans and a New York Nicks top. She had also gone to Walmart and bought her some new underwear and a pair of tennis shoes. The jeans were a little too big on her waist but she had synched it in with a belt they had pilfered from the lost and found. They had let her use the showers and she had stood under the pounding hot water for half an hour intermittently crying. Rosie had handed her the pile of clothes, shoes and some toiletries with a kind smile that had made Jessica's lip start to tremble again. Jessica reminded her of her daughter and she had felt desperately sorry for her. She had stroked her cheek and told her to take her time that she would be just in the office down the corridor if she needed anything.

She looked extremely tired but better. She had washed and tied her hair back and she was now clean and refreshed. She was also now a lot calmer. When she had woken she had refused to have a physical examination. She had allowed them to take her blood but she had been adamant that she had not been raped that it wasn't that kind of situation. She was also adamant that she had not been taking drugs or been slipped anything in a drink. Scully had conceded and had just taken her bloods. What Jessica hadn't known was that when she had handed her clothes over to be washed her underwear had been processed through the labs at Quantico to determine if there was any signs of blood or semen. The agents had been relieved to find that nothing had been found.

Scully was still waiting for the blood results to come back. They had been informed already that her family had been contacted and they had confirmed that they were all in England present and accounted for including Jessica. So who the hell was this girl? Mulder had not been surprised about the news and she suspected that his intelligent mind had been wrapped around a theory he was not yet prepared to share with her. He had been sat quietly at the table waiting for Jessica to come back absentmindedly chewing on his sunflower seeds only breaking out of his reverie when she had returned and had requested a cup of coffee.

"Jessica we should get you something to eat you have had quite an ordeal and you need to keep up your energy levels." Scully told her gently.

Jessica gave her a tired smile, "No thank you I'm not hungry. I'll eat later if that's ok."

Mulder lent forward and spoke to her softly, "Jessica... tell me what happened."

She looked at him warily unsure whether to tell them the truth. She shrugged her shoulders and took a deep breath exhaling slowly. She had nothing to lose and if anyone could get her out of this situation it was these two. But how to convince them? They already probably know about the Jessica who is living her life the girl she had spoken to earlier today. He is probably thinking that she is some clone or alien or maybe a shape shifter. She is probably thinking of long lost twin or something medically grounded even though she has seen so much she still won't give in to his theories without a fight. She smiled.

"I know that you have by now received information from Yeovil police that the Myers family including Jessica Myers are at home safe and sound and that they have not been to America since their last trip 8 years ago to Disney World." The agents raised their eyebrows but remained silent allowing her to continue, "I am not surprised as the first thing that I did was call home. It was _her ... _me... that answered. Even though it was a shock luckily for me my head was already so mashed at this point there wasn't much else that could send me over the edge.

" The last thing I remember was walking back home and getting caught in a thunder storm. I was walking back from the local supermarket, I was renting a film my friend Rob was coming over later, I got to my door and all I remember was getting a searing pain through my fingertips and a jolt in my belly bar." She hesitated biting the inside of her mouth," It felt like I was being pulled ... like I was being reeled backwards by an invisible hook."

She cleared her throat and looked down at her coffee trying to stop the tears welling up again. She was sick of crying, " You know the rest. Next thing I knew I was in the park."

She looked up at them. Both of them seemed to be looking at her but in a distant way. She knew that they were both coming up with their own theories.

"If you are, who you are then I am royally screwed." She whispered. Mulder's gaze snapped back to her. This had been what he had wanted first and foremost to know. How she knew who they were.

"Where I come from 'The X Files' is a tv show. You guys are the main characters." Again both agents looked at her incredulously. She smile ruefully at them, "I know I know it sounds crazy. What do you want me to say? Its the truth from my perspective. You guys are well known and universally loved characters. Like ... " She stumbled trying to think of an appropriate example, " like Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy. You are well known and loved characters but still _fictional_."

"Imagine... imagine waking up beaten and battered in the time of Pride and Prejudice what was it... 19th century, early 19th century. One minute you are sitting in your basement office or at your flat here in Washington the next minute you are in a different country where everything is alien to you aside from the language. But then... then someone that you know probably better than they know themselves someone that couldn't possibly be standing in front of you is there right in front of you."

She let out a frustrated sigh, " I can't explain it! I don't know how it's possible but I am here! In a world that I don't belong to. I don't know how I got here and I have no idea how to get back."

Scully looked over at Mulder who was watching Jessica with an intense stare. His green eyes were hungrily watching her for signs of deceit anything that would be indicative of a purpose for lying. Like her he obviously couldn't find one and it was frustrating. She frowned as she ran her fingers through her russet coloured hair. This girl was telling the truth, well she believed that she was telling the truth. Eerily, she almost felt like she believed her. She then chided herself for it. Just because she was being drawn into this girl's plight into her vulnerability she shouldn't lose sight of the fact that they had been mislead and stung in the past.

She was also worried about Mulder. She had a feeling that this girl somehow reminded him of Samantha. If she looked at her objectively she could possibly have passed off as a younger sibling. Even though there were no specific family traits she had enough generic traits to possibly be from the same family. Both were tall, had brown hair, expressive eyes although different colours and quite heavy set jaws although his was more defined and angular. He had probably envisioned many times in the past how maybe if Samantha had been returned if she had turned up in a public place just as bedraggled, beaten and hysterical like this young girl had. Her heart always lurched in sympathy for him when she thought of the pain he must go through every time there is a living breathing reminder of his younger sister.

"Jessica." Scully hesitated, "Jessica I know that you may feel that you believe that this is the truth but I think we have to step back and look at the very real possibility that you have had some kind of accident which has altered your mind set. We may be looking at the possibility of some form of amnesia that may make you believe all this.

"We need to look at the possibility that you have usurped someone else's identity through no fault of your own. The brain works in strange ways to try to protect itself." She told her gently.

Jessica nodded at her with conceding smile. Typical Scully. She wasn't in the least bit surprised that she had just told her that. She was right in her scientific frame of mind it was the most logical explanation. Jessica knew though that it was never Scully she would have to convince. She knew when her tired brain had been trying to formulate a plan that if she was going to get them to help her it was Mulder she had to get on her side. It was Mulder she had to convince. Then Scully would be on board. Maybe not straight away but her expertise would follow and between the two of them they would find the solution. They always did.

She turned to Mulder determined to enlist his help.

"Your name is Fox William Mulder, date of birth 13th October 1961, your sister was abducted in 1973, you made it your life's work to find out what happened to her, you graduated from Oxford with honours and went on to work for FBI, became a prominent profiler, later found the X Files where you believe the answer to your sisters abduction is in there, with original partner Diana Fowley, she left for Europe shortly after you were married, Scully was partnered with you over 6 years ago to debunk your work but ended up joining your cause." She had reeled this off in a tired monotone. She exhaled loudly still watching him. His first reaction which had been surprise was replaced by a look of guarded suspicion.

She then turned to Scully, " Your name is Dana Katherine Scully, date of birth 23rd February 1964, you are a medical doctor, physicist first, Navy brat youngest but one of 4 siblings, brought up as a catholic, you left a career in medical science to join the FBI much to your father's disapproval, was partnered with Mulder to debunk his work, since joining him you have been abducted, your sister has been murdered and you have survived cancer. Last year Mulder saved you after you got stung by a bee which carried the alien virus." She finished half heartedly.

"Your gonna tell me that I could have learnt that anywhere. Or you are going to suspect me of being a clone or alien bounty hunter. I promise I am none of those things." She was absentmindedly picking at a thread on the seam of her blue top.

They were silent for a good couple of seconds and she knew they were having a silent conversation with each other only in the way that they could. With their eyes.

"I can tell you personal things as well but I still don't know whether you would trust me you'll just assume you're being bugged." She told them before they had had a chance to ask. She thought for a second trying to think of a personal conversation that they had where they knew it was just the two of them.

"Oh I know ... One of my favourite x files is Tooms, the time where Mulder was illegally holding a stake out on Tooms. You joined him and brought him something to eat." She recited earnestly, "He told you that he didn't want to be the cause of you having an official reprimand on your file because you were in the car with him and you called him Fox to which he laughed and said he even made his mum call him Mulder."

Jessica paused and smiled at the agents expressions. Scully had started to blush as she remembered the conversation.

"You then turned round to him and said you wouldn't put yourself on the line for anyone but him and he said if there's ice tea in that bag could be love. You replied must be fate Mulder ..."

"root beer." Mulder and Scully said together.

Mulder sat back in his chair eyeing her carefully. He believed her. He couldn't get his head around all the revelations that she had just sprouted and the fact that she knew so much about them but he had to find out. He had to get to the bottom of it.

"Please believe me," She whispered feeling the tears pooling in her eyes as she begged him," I'm not lying. I don't know what has happened but I do know that if anyone can get me home it's you guys."

He nodded to her reassuringly and lent forward to take her shaking hands. "We'll help you." Jessica gave a shaky sigh of relief and nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

Scully sat down heavily at the desk next to Mulder and rubbed her eyes wearily. She glanced at her watch and was not surprised that it was just after 8. It had been a very long day, they had been at the police station since 11.00 that morning. They had finally finished the paperwork on the interrogation on the suspect they had been chasing for nearly a week now and he had been charged with Murder. It had been a very long week of stakeouts and long nights. She had a feeling though that the bath and early night she had been yearning for since this morning was going to be put on hold now that Jessica had literally crash landed into their lives.

She hadn't felt this tired for a _long_ time.

Despite the fatigue she felt a grim satisfaction about having caught a bad guy even though it had turned out to be a regular run of the mill murderer rather than the x file kind of murderer they were accustomed to dealing with.

"... we appreciate all your help officer and we are sorry for any confusion and panic this has caused the Myers family." He nodded blankly listening to the voice on the other end of the line," We will thank you."

Mulder put the phone down and dry rubbed his face. She knew he was as tired as she was. Both of them hadn't slept more than a couple of hours the night before and she was sure that her face reflected the same tiredness that was etched on his face. There was something else though. She saw the beginnings of an idea in his eyes. The same glint in those eyes that he got just before he presented her with an x file. She knew that the officer had given him something that his intelligent mind was cataloguing and referencing. She had felt earlier that he was working on a theory about Jessica - whatever the new information was it was being slotted into place with the information he already had.

"Scully..."

_Here we go,_ she thought with a slight flicker of amusement. She knew her partner too well.

"What are your thoughts on parallel universes?"

She sighed heavily and closed her eyes for a second as a wave of exhaustion broke over her. She was wrong._ Now_ she was at the most tired she had felt for in a long time.

"Mulder." She looked at him and rolled her eyes. _Ok I'll play along._ " Well, there are many theories about the expansion of the universe and the effect that it has on the continuum. Time is an invariable factor, we know this, and due to the size of the universe there are theories that there is a _possiblity_ that there are worlds that are running parallel to ours that may support life and could possibly be in essence be seen as different versions of our world.

"What are you suggesting Mulder, that Jessica has somehow been transported from another part of the universe?" She asked doggedly dreading his affirmation.

"No not another planet - this one. Aren't there also studies that relate to string theory in which they theorise that there are different universes that co exist simultaneously in the same space and time?"

"Yeah Mulder, _theories_, your talking about an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space. They are separate co existing universes which can technically interfere with each other. So you think that Jessica has somehow jumped from one universe to the next?"

Mulder nodded eagerly, " I think the thunderstorm which may have caused the right atmospheric factors, and more specifically the lightning somehow created a conduit between her world and ours. I think she was hit by lightning. She mentioned about the jolt in her fingers and midsection, she felt like she was being pulled back," his hands motioned backwards, " victims of lightning strike are often wearing jewellery her belly bar would surely be an explanation for the jolt around her midsection.

Mulder ploughed on as she opened her mouth to argue," She also said about the strange metallic taste, the fact that when she woke she was sick and that she had what she described what could be some form of head trauma. She also described feeling bruised and sore around her chest area. "

"Yeah but Mulder you are describing all of the primary factors of having been struck by lightning but none of the secondary factors! I did the examination myself. There is no physical damage. _If_ she had been struck there should be signs of major internal damage, neurological damage, burns. Her urine and blood samples showed no signs of any damage." She told him with an air of finality as she tried to reason with him. She frowned, "Plus if she had been hit her jewellery especially the belly button bar would have probably melted and caused concentrated burn marks in that area."

"Ok... I can't explain that at the moment but I have just found out from the officer," he gestured at the phone," the family friend that provided the information before, that there has been a raging thunderstorm in that part of Somerset."

She knew this was the moment that he was going to give her the little nugget of information that he always held back as his parting final coup. She braced herself for it.

He grinned broadly as he watched her eyebrows raise in reserved expectation, " and... the front door has been damaged from an apparent lightning strike."

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Authors notes: sorry I am not a physicist or doctor - I have vaguely read bits on the internet about parallel universes and lightning strike survivors and meshed it into my own little story line. I am sorry if it doesn't make sense but I hope you will forgive me for the artistic license. Also sorry its a short chapter just wanted to establish the theory before I get Jessica more involved with the fantastic duo! Huge thanks for the reviews and feedback they are like little rays of sunshine to me :)

Thanks for reading if your still interested next chapters will be up soon promise xx


	4. Chapter 4

Jessica meekly stepped into Scully's airy flat and looked around in quiet awe. It was exactly the same as she had seen it on the TV show however she knew that this time it wasn't a set. She had now started to acclimatise to her situation. She was still more scared than she had been at any other time in her life but she had a vague feeling like any minute she was going to wake from this strange dream.

It all felt so surreal but in the strangest and scariest way real. The characters that she had grown to love were now three dimensional instead of flat. She could hear them breathing, hear their clothes rustle as they moved, smell their respective cologne/perfume. It was the strangest sensation suddenly to be able to pick out personal details that would never come across on such a two dimensional contraption as a TV. It was almost like only having known someone by a dog eared photograph and finally meeting that someone for the first time and being able to appreciate all the three dimensional aspects of a persons personality that were never available before.

She could smell faintly Mulder's cologne which oddly suited him. It was a clean smell, with a slight spice that although not as fresh after having probably been in the police precinct for however many hours, but she bet that it smelt mouth watering when he had just stepped out of the shower on his clean skin. She didn't know how Scully could stand to work so close to him without being seriously in danger of jumping him.

He was so oddly handsome and, after having watched the series for over a year now, she found his traits and characteristics really endearing. She had realised a while ago that even though she found David Duchovny very attractive she was actually in love with the character that was Fox Mulder.

She had recently been mad at him, and in true woman companionship, had been hurt and a little betrayed on Scully's behalf about his behaviour over Diana Fowley. After all that they had been through and after the closeness that had seemed to grow in the first half of the six season, since the film had suggested there maybe more than friendship, he had suddenly ditched her for his ex.

She frowned at her thoughts. Although her head had been very fuzzy since her arrival she had been aware that she had to be careful in her new situation. She still felt vague as if this was all a dream however if it wasn't she had to make sure that she didn't let her feelings show. She had the impression that he enjoyed unsettling Scully and making her blush with his sexual innuendos and uncomfortable questions. She would be mortified if he started to rag on her too about her apparent crush. Then again she figured that he wouldn't look at her like that, she was only 16, and although she could have her way with most of the boys at school if she wanted to, she also knew that he saw her as a lost kid nothing more. He did have a tendency to want to save people. This would hopefully work to her advantage.

At this moment she had to keep a cool head. She also had to make sure she limited the damage that she was capable of inflicting. She had met them today in the precinct but had no idea which case they were on. She knew that she had been watching the middle of season six but for all she knew that time might be off.

Nothing had as yet given her any indication of what date even what year they were in. For all she knew she could be anywhere within the time line of the last 6 years and didn't dare jeopardise future events because she told them too much.

She had already in the interest of trying to prove that she knew them mentioned about Scully's sister dying, being abducted and surviving cancer but what if they weren't as far a long as she was? She reasoned with herself that by their silent acknowledgment of the facts that she had given them that they were at least in the same year if nothing else. She resolved to speak to them about their latest case and try to figure out what timescale difference there was if any.

She sighed as she thought about the amount of persuading that she was going to have to do without unintentionally screwing everything up! She knew that she had a long way to convince them to trust her. They may be the most qualified to help her but they were also justifiably extremely paranoid about the whole conspiracy thing and it would be hard to earn their trust.

"You know that is a lot of emotions to keep track of in the space of a minute." Mulder joked snapping Jessica out of her reverie. He walked over to Scully's guest bedroom and deposited the small bag of laundered clothes on the guest room bed.

She felt herself blush as she realised that he had been watching her face, the emotions had probably chased each other fleetingly as she had processed her thoughts. She hoped he hadn't read too much into each because she was pretty sure she had at one point been thinking about how she would love to jump him. Her blush deepened.

She felt displaced. She realised suddenly that it was not them that was surreal but herself. It was_ her_ that was out of place. This was _their_ world -_ they _belonged here not her. She thought about the other Jessica and wondered if she had had the same plans as her before all this had happened. She was probably sitting on her bed watching Independence Day with _her_ Rob sitting on _her_ chaise lounge where he _always_ lounged. She smiled as she remembered the last time they had watched a movie and he had started throwing sweets at her because the film she had chosen had turned out to be shit. She racked her brains trying to remember what film they had been watching.

"Jessica?" She looked up to see both of them watching her. She realised she was still standing by the door and hadn't followed them in.

"Sorry - I spaced for a minute." Jessica smiled at them and followed them in.

Scully nodded and beckoned her to come in. "Come on lets make some dinner then we can talk. You must be hungry by now?"

Jessica smiled shyly, " Yeah a bit."

Scully moved towards the kitchen trying to remember what she had in her pantry. She was sure she could whip up something although she hadn't been shopping for a couple of days. She took her coat off and put it on the back of one of her dining chairs and rifled through her cupboards. " How about Pasta Puttenesca and some garlic bread?"

Jessica nodded and smiled. It was one of her mothers favourites. "Yeah sounds good. I'll help."

Scully nodded and pulling a pan out of the cupboard handed it to her. Jessica moved to the sink and filled it with water. Before long they were working in silent tandem as Mulder set about readying the table.

Within half an hour they were all sitting around the table eating in silence.

Jessica figured it was as good a time to start the conversation that they all knew they were going to have at some point tonight. She put her fork down and looked at the agents.

Jessica decided to start with the first thing she wanted to know before they went on. "I Know its Saturday but what's the date?"

" June 26th." Mulder replied.

Jessica nodded relieved that her qualms about distorting the timeline or any future events could be laid to rest. She already had enough problems without worrying about what she said or did adding to them. " Right well at least I know we're all on the same day."

"I need to know what the last X Files case you worked on." Neither of the agents answered straight away. They were reluctant to tell this girl too much as they each still had reservations about the validity of her story. Scully more so than Mulder.

Jessica read their silence correctly and ventured on, "I don't need to know the details I already probably know it. I just need to know where you were on the case. I still have to figure out where I am in relation to you. For all I know what I have seen maybe out of sync to you guys."

Mulder nodded slowly, " We were in San Diego in a planned community called-"

"Arcadia Falls. You guys posed as a married couple called Rob and Laura Petrie. Yeah, that's how far I am." She finished and gave them a lopsided grin again at the surprise on their faces.

Scully was absentmindedly chewing on the inside of her mouth deep in thought. She felt sorry for Jessica but she also didn't trust her. She felt a little bit more disturbed each time the teenager recited another piece of accurate information about them. Her theories so far had ranged from her being a plant by one of their many enemies to try to win their trust God only knows for what purpose, to her being a clone or an abductee who had been introduced with all this information. All her theories were disturbing in that the information she had been given was extremely sensitive to both of them. She knew there was the likelihood that their office and apartments may have been bugged, knowing the people that they dealt with it was hardly surprising, but it was still unsettling to think that Jessica could be proof of this.

She was still reluctant to agree with Mulder's theory of Jessica being from a parallel universe however she couldn't explain or deny the facts that surrounded the teenager. The front door at her family home had been struck by lightning, there were two living breathing Jessica Myers' in the world both identical in every way and she had somehow ended up in America with absolutely no paper trail to follow.

Her theory was so outlandish that the reason why she knew so much about them was that in her world they were fictional characters. It seemed so _implausible_ that anyone would believe this. Surely if they were trying to infiltrate the X Files they would have gone with the very obvious abductee scenario to engage Mulder's sympathy and at least she would have been on board with this information. After her own experiences she was a little more open to extreme possibilities but Mulder's theory about parallel universes tested her resolve. She rolled her eyes. _When doesn't it?_

Jessica spoke to break the silence and Scully snapped out of her thoughts, " Look I am really sorry this is so hard to believe for you guys but I am telling you the truth. I don't know how to explain how I am here but I am and I can't do anything about it. All I can do is tell you the truth as I know it."

She sighed doggedly, " I really hope that this is just some super fucked up dream and I am going to wake up in a hospital bed telling my family that I was in a magical place with tornados and wicked witches and the likes."

Mulder chuckled quietly and moved his plate to the side deciding to tell her his theory. "Jessica we found out something earlier today from one of the officers we have been speaking to in Somerset, I think you know him he is apparently a family friend."

"David." She confirmed, " He's my best friend's dad."

"He told us that there has been a storm in Somerset and your front door has been damaged by what they believe to be a lightning strike."

Her eyes widened as he carried on, "There are theories that there are parallel universes that co exist simultaneously within the same time and space. I think that you were struck by lightning and somehow got pulled into our universe from yours."

Jessica nodded her head slowly as she digested this information, "I have been thinking about it as well. It didn't occur to me that I was struck by lightning although it kind of fits, " She rolled her eyes, " as much as it can. One of the last things I remember after getting zapped was thinking that I had got a major electric shock."

She paused chewing on her lip, "About 5 years ago I stupidly put a knife in the toaster when I was trying to make my parents breakfast in bed for their anniversary." She smiled at the memory, " Needless to say I ruined the day for everybody by spending it in hospital. It threw me across the kitchen blew all the electrics and basically screwed up my mums brand new toaster."

"This makes sense to you?" Scully asked incredulously with her infamous eyebrow raised.

Jessica grinned at her, " You got to remember I have been following you guys for about a year now you guys have seen some pretty weird shit."

"Yeah I guess you could say that." A smile tugged at Sully's lips as she rolled her eyes. Mulder smiled at Scully's admission.

Jessica's mind was racing as she thought about all the possibilities. It didn't really surprise her considering this had happened before to them but last time it had been a space ship that had caused the anomalies. She wondered if it would be as easy as the ending to that particular X File. Maybe tomorrow she would wake up at home after whatever the hell it was that had got her into this mess had reversed itself and with everyone none the wiser. She hoped rather than felt that this would be the case.

"You know this isn't that different to what happened to you guys on a case last year. You don't remember it but Mulder you ended up switching bodies with this guy who worked in Area 51 when a an alien aircraft that they were testing out there malfunctioned. It created a time warp that rippled outwards. You guys were on a road in Area 51, that was the epicentre of it, which caused Mulder and a 'man in black' called Morris Fletcher to switch. As it expanded outwards certain things happened where space and time merged. Some of the stuff was really disturbing like there was this guy in a petrol station who was merged with the floor ... oooh yeah and the pilot of the ship that malfunctioned was stuck in a rock."

She turned to Scully, "You have a penny and dime that are fused together that you found at that petrol station and Mulder you came home to find your bedroom had basically been turned into what looked like a set from a porno movie, waterbed and all."

Silence followed as the agents digested this information. Mulder conceded that she must be right even though he didn't remember any of it. He had come back to find that his apartment had been completely spring cleaned and his bedroom, in which he had hoarded about 10 years worth of pornography and crap, had been cleared out.

He had ridded himself of the waterbed which had played hell with his tendency to get seasick and had since got a decent bed. He had also in the process taken down the mirror above his bed. His memory flitted back to the time Scully had spotted it, he had blushed as she had raised her eyebrows but let it pass without comment.

"You guys don't remember it because the time warp snapped back and reversed all the weird things that happened. I guess it proves that it can happen." Jessica finished.

"I don't think it's going to be that easy Jessica." Scully told her gently, "Even if, and I mean _if, _Mulder's theory is correct we would have to recreate the same circumstances to get you back. The mechanics of space and time are so finely tuned that the probability of actually recreating them is extremely unlikely. We need to find out exactly what happened to you and then try to figure out ... well we'll work on it."

"Thanks I appreciate you guys helping me. Although I can't help feeling I'm doomed." She told them dejectedly and slumped slightly in her chair. "I mean what if I can't get back? What am I meant to do? I am 16, in a foreign country with no passport, no identity. I can't go to school or get a job. I can't leave this country. And even if I was able to my counterpart in this universe is alive and well so I would basically be committing fraud!" She sighed heavily," I am practically a ghost."

"Don't give up hope yet Jessica," Mulder said kindly, "It only happened today it's still early in the day. I am planning to speak to the Lone Gunmen, " Jessica sat up a little straighter as he said this with growing excitement, "and see if they can help and see if we can figure a way to get you back."

"Oh wow. Can I come with you when you go to see them? I would love to meet them." She asked excitedly.

"Let me guess you are a huge fan?" Mulder teased. Jessica blushed as she remembered meeting them that afternoon and gushing about being their biggest fan.

" Well yeah everyone loves the Lone Gunmen." She mumbled.

"Listen Jessica I believe your story but not everyone would and considering how, um, _paranoid_ they are..." Mulder told her gently.

"They wouldn't appreciate you bringing someone that could potentially be a spy to their lair." She finished understanding his point but still couldn't help feeling disappointed. "Yeah I understand. Do you think they would come here some time before I go?"

Mulder smiled and nodded, "I'll see what I can do."

She beamed at him and got up from the table to clear the plates away. After the dishes had been done she bade them good night and retreated to the guest room.

When she had shut the door Scully looked at Mulder and sighed, "Do you believe her? About Area 51 and the switching bodies?"

"Well she has been pretty accurate about everything so far." He ventured cautiously.

He knew that this was hard on his partner. Jessica seemed to know a lot about them and some of it was pretty personal. Even though his mind set was different to hers in that he was willing to believe in all possibilities he was finding it hard to accept that this girl believed that they were fictional characters in her world. Before Scully had joined him in the office, when he had spoken to the English officer, he had decided to not think too deeply into her explanation as to why she knew so much about them.

He had decided to focus on the fact that the girl was from another place and that he would try to get her back there. He knew that Scully was trying to process all of the information and she was coming up short . She was finding it unnerving that Jessica had all this information about them and they knew almost nothing about her. He couldn't help agreeing with her that it was unnerving to have someone that you had never met before know you so intimately.

"I do believe her." He told her finally, "But I have my reservations as well, Scully. Her version of those events do to a certain extent partially explain the merged coins and my apartment overhaul." He shrugged," I don't know but I hope we can get to the bottom of it."

He looked down at his watch, it was only 11." I am going to see the guys tonight and see if they can get started on this right away. I'll be back in the morning. It think we should also take her shopping tomorrow. God knows how long its going to take to get this resolved and she might just need... well you know more things that erm ... teenage girls need."

Scully smiled at him for his thoughtfulness and agreed. He was so usually cool but it was endearing to see him flush slightly as he awkwardly skirted around the fact that Jessica had limited personal items like underwear. He paused at the door momentarily and looked at her tired face, "You ok Scully?" His eyes flitted to the guest bedroom door.

"It'll be fine Mulder," She reassured him as she tried unsuccessfully to supress a yawn.

"It's been a long week. Get some sleep Scully you look tired." He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Will do." She relaxed into his arms for a second before giving him a final squeeze, pulling back and smiling at him affectionately. "Good night Mulder."

"Goodnight Scully. Sleep well." Pulling the door closed he smiled to himself and sauntered off down the hallway.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own the x files etc etc everyone knows the drill!

Thanks again for the follows and reviews ect it's lovely hearing back from you xx

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Jessica woke the next morning to the smell of bacon wafting in delicious waves from the other room. She groggily smiled as she expected the soft knock at the door any minute telling her that mum was there with a cup of coffee and a bacon sandwich. She had only started doing this in the last couple of months when she had _finally_ been allowed to start going to the local nightclub with her friends. She had enjoyed those lazy Sunday's chatting to her mum who perched on the edge of the bed sipping at her cup of tea listening to the events of the previous night.

She could feel the warmth of the sunlight on her face and lazily stretched. She cringed suddenly groaning as pain shot through her ribs and down her leg. Her eyes flew open as the previous day's events crashed back to her like a ton weight. Her breath came in short bursts as she tried to calm her heart rate. Her hand came up to her chest as she tried to control her breathing. She could feel her heart hammering against her hand.

"Noooo," She moaned softly as she looked around the unfamiliar bedroom. She thought it had been a crazy dream. A crazy royally fucked up dream. She was in Scully's apartment! They were probably in the next room chatting and talking about what they were going to do with her. She could feel her heart rate slow a little as she took in deep breaths. _I will stay calm. I will stay calm._

Grunting loudly she threw the cover off and grudgingly decided to straighten the bed before getting dressed. She had worn the nicks t shirt to bed. She gingerly pulled the jeans on and padded over to the door. She could hear softly spoken voices coming from the kitchen but couldn't make out what they were saying. Taking a deep breath she opened door.

Mulder and Scully both turned to look as the door opened, their previous conversation stalling as Jessica appeared dishevelled and peered at them blearily in the doorway.

"Morning sunshine." Mulder called over.

"Morning." She mumbled waving at them both as she shuffled down the hallway to the bathroom.

Once she had closed the door she snapped out of the pretence of being sleepy and walked over to the sink. As she brushed her teeth she looked at herself in the mirror and teased her mane of hair into a semblance of order and let her eyes wander over the bathroom absentmindedly. She couldn't believe that she was still here. It was cool that of all places to wind up it was _here with them_ but truthfully right now she would have given anything to be at home growling at her sisters for winding her up, listening to her mum potter around the kitchen and to her dad whistling whilst he banged around in the garden shed. She closed her eyes feeling the tears stinging as she felt a wave of homesickness wash over her.

Finishing brushing her teeth she bent over the sink and washed her face. She would grab a shower later.

Joining Mulder and Scully back in the kitchen, Scully held up the coffee pot and Jessica nodded eagerly. Jessica took the mug off of her thanking her she sat down gingerly at the table.

Mulder looked up from his plate of bacon and pancakes, "Sleep well?"

"Like the dead," She smiled at the two of them and politely refused the offer for breakfast from Scully, "I don't eat first thing thanks prefer just coffee for now." She held the mug up and took a grateful gulp. She gave them their due the Americans did coffee well.

"First thing? It's 11.15." Mulder laughed.

She shrugged, "What can I say I'm a teenager. Do you even remember being sixteen?" She asked cheekily. Scully turned away stifling a laugh at the look of mild indignation on his face.

"Ey," He said around a mouthful of food in mock offence. He swallowed and playfully poked her arm with his fork making her giggle, " I may be _like_ past it but I still feel like I'm sixteen."

Scully chipped in, "And acts like it too." Jessica choked into her cup as she laughed.

"Hey, don't you start." He pointed the fork threateningly at her. "Once we get her home I have you all to myself and I will remember, Scully." He told her his eyes twinkling at her. They looked at each other across the table warmly, Scully breaking the gaze after a moment with a small smile on her face.

Jessica hid her grin behind her cup. They really did love each other and it was really heart warming to see. The eye lock had lasted only seconds but she had seen an entire conversation flash across the table. There was no other word for it. It was _cute_. She happily concentrated on the swirling pattern of the cup for a minute not wanting to intrude on the tender moment between them.

Mulder spoke first she raised her eyes to his, "I went to see the guys last night. They are going to look at the satellite pictures over your house to try to assess what happened and they're going to let us know. We should hopefully know by tonight what happened although they might need a while to figure out how to get you back."

She nodded happily, understanding that it may take time, "Thanks. I appreciate that." She knew that they would try their upmost for Mulder which was the best shot she had.

Scully got up from the table picking up the plates and mugs and put them in the sink. She turned to the both of them, "We need to get groceries and Jessica we need to get you some more clothes."

Jessica looked up at her awkwardly and felt a flush of embarrassment. She hated relying on other people and the thought of the agents spending money on her was pretty humiliating. She hated the fact that she had money sitting in her account from her Saturday job and she couldn't even access it.

Scully read her embarrassment correctly and smiled at her, " We don't know how long it's going to take to get you back to England and in the mean time you can't just live in the same outfit the whole time." She told her practically.

Jessica nodded in reluctant agreement. She was right she only had the outfit she landed in and the one she was wearing. "Thank you. I don't need much though. I have these jeans and my shorts. I also have shoes. I just maybe need some t shirts and a couple of bits." Scully nodded and turned back to finish rinsing off the dishes.

"Here, I brought you some things." Mulder grabbed a bag off the back of the chair. "I brought you my cd player and some Lone Gunmen magazines for your entertainment."

"Ooo wicked. Thanks!" Jessica took out the portable cd player and opened it. She pulled out an Enya cd and her eyebrows shot up.

"Enya?" She ribbed him incredulously, "Mulder that really is Spooky." She giggled. Scully chuckled looking over at Mulder.

"Hey! It's a classic." He defended his music choice, " It's not Spooky. It helps me relax. " He pouted.

"Oh I'm sorry." She giggled again. "I didn't mean to call you that sorry I know you hate it."

"I forgive you." He told her reluctantly still pouting. Jessica couldn't help noticing how attractive he looked even when he was pouting.

"You know I always thought that nick name sucked." She told him seriously, " I know that you hate it because the intention was pretty harsh behind it but seriously if they were going to call you something surely they could have come up with something better. Like Mad Arse Mulder or something."

"Mad Arse Mulder, " He mused over the name. "Hey Sully, you know you could always bandy it about in the bull pen and see if it sticks."

Sully rolled her eyes at him and laughed, "I'll see what I can do."

"Right you two I am going to get showered and dressed. Shall we go in about an half an hour?" Mulder and Jessica nodded.

Jessica got up from the table moving to the guest bedroom, "Right I better go get changed as well."

"Hey wait up a second," Jessica turned back as he met her halfway across the living room," I have something else for you but you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone especially Scully because she will kill me." He told her quietly looking past her to the closed bathroom where he could hear the shower running. She raised her eyebrows as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket.

He pulled out a light green card and handed it to her. She gasped as she saw her face and all her details on the embossed card. It was a British provisional driving license.

"Oh my god!" She flew at him and threw her arms around his neck as he tried to shush her but chuckling at the same time. "This is so amazing!" She whispered excitedly letting him go and looking down at the card, "Oh my god, thank you so much but how?"

"The guys have contacts and I asked them to do me a favour. I felt bad for you last night when you said you felt like a ghost, I know how it feels to be isolated and vulnerable." He told her quietly.

She looked up at him feeling her heart melt, then bit her lip with a small frown, "Won't you get in trouble?"

"It's our secret ok just promise me you won't use it unless you have to."

She nodded happily feeling her eyes prick with tears again and gave him a watery smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, now go get ready," he smiled at her motioning his head towards the guest bedroom.

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Later that evening they sat around the table eating pizza. She now owned 4 t-shirts, in various colours, two pairs of jeans, plenty of underwear and a pair of flat red glittery pumps that Mulder had insisted on buying her with uncontained glee. She also thankfully had her own toiletries now. They had also got her the new Destiny's Child and Foo Fighters albums after a discussion in the car about her favourite music much to Jessica's relief. They had then done the grocery shopping and once packed away, Mulder and Scully had gone to the office to finish off some paperwork leaving the teenager to chill out listening to her new cd's and trying on her new clothes. She wasn't fooled she knew they needed some time just for the two of them to talk out what they were going to do. She had felt a little guilty that she was encroaching on their personal time and space but had smiled at them waving them off pretending to buy the excuse.

"So you know everything about us, right? We don't know anything about you." Scully told her biting delicately into a slice of pizza whilst Mulder demolished his slice with his usual gusto.

Jessica put her food down and wiped her fingers on her napkin." No, I guess you don't but my life is really boring in comparison to yours." She shrugged and elaborated, "What can I say I go to school I hang out wit my friends, go out every couple of weeks, go to the cinema. I work a Saturday job in the local pet shop with my best friend Rob."

"Rob? Is he your boyfriend?" Mulder teased. Jessica rolled her eyes and shook her head but couldn't stop a small blush rising in her cheeks.

"No," She smiled, "He's definitely just my best friend." The agents exchanged knowing glances. They had been correcting people for years that they were just partners when people had mistaken them for a couple. With the same insistent tone.

Jessica reached into her pocket and pulled out her purse. She pulled out the couple of photos and passed them over.

"This is my family it was taken about 3 months ago at a barbeque we had. Dad managed to burn the sausages," She smiled at the memory as she remember her mother glowering at him. She pointed to the group of people sitting around the table in a relatively large garden, all looking at the camera with bright white smiles. Scully looked over the photo and noted the comfortable air that seemed to surround them. They were a happy family. Jessica was just a younger version of her mother although her mother was shorter, around 5'5 and had green eyes. Her hair fell in soft waves, thick and lustrous like her daughters but cropped to her shoulders. The younger twin sisters were identical and strongly resembled their father who had brown eyes and soft sandy coloured hair. All three girls were tall like their father, who towered over the back of the seated group of women in a relaxed pose.

She picked up another of the table, "These are my best friends, Lucy and Olivia, Ollie for short." She handed them a small strip of passport photos where the three of them, the other girls both blond were just as pretty and they were posing pulling silly faces in each frame at the camera. It had been taken after a Sunday afternoon of bowling and playing pool at the local arcade.

"And this is me and Rob on our first night out. My parents only let me started going out on a Saturday night a couple of months ago just after my sixteenth birthday," She explained. Scully and Mulder lent in closer as they looked at the photo in interest. Rob was laughing at the camera with his arm lazily around Jessica's shoulder whilst she smiled brightly at the camera. She looked older, passing for 18, with makeup on and a low cut top that enhanced her cleavage. Rob was handsome, with electric blue eyes, even white teeth and a tanned face. His light blond hair was cut in a short back and sides and although they guessed Jessica was wearing heels the top of her head still only came to his eyes. He was broad shouldered and quite muscular. They looked like the perfect high school couple. The jock and the cheerleader.

" He's a year older than me. He's in sixth form doing Law and Maths. When we moved to Yeovil my dad and his dad Rick who had been best friends years before started hanging out so we saw a lot of each other but we only really started hanging out when I went to the same high school. He showed me around sat with me at lunch and introduced me to his friends. We walk home together after school as he only lives round the corner from me. I'm best friends with Ollie and Lucy but Rob is my best-est friend in the whole world. " She reached for her photos and smiled sadly at the small pieces of glossy paper that were the only things she had left to remember her entire world.

"You guys look like the football captain and head cheerleader." Scully commented as she handed the photos back.

Jessica snorted, "Us? No! We're Sci-Fi geeks! I mean Rob is the captain of the rugby team and is quite popular but our group kind of keep ourselves to ourselves. Me, Lucy and Ollie love Star Trek, Rob is a major Star Wars fan and we all love the X Files." She finished quietly realising that she had inadvertently brought the conversation back to them.

"How long have you been ... following us?" Mulder enquired.

"About a year." She confessed, "The X Files has been running for 6 years but I only started to watch it when my mum, who has been watching it from the beginning, dragged me to watch the movie."

"Movie?" Scully asked with surprise her eyebrows shot up.

"Yeah. It was really good." Jessica nodded. "The movie was the whole Dallas, bee sting and Antarctica scenario before the X Files were reinstated."

Mulder looked at Scully a little uncomfortably. Scully studied Jessica with her ice blue eyes slightly narrowed. She still wasn't sure about the validity of Jessica's claim. Her physics and science were taking quite a beating since she had met her. She still hadn't found a reasonable explanation for everything and it was unsettling her that she was starting to believe her.

Despite his reservations he was still slightly intrigued about this different world that Jessica presented but was unsure whether to continue delving into this phenomena. He had decided to steadfastly not think about her claims. However he had found it was intriguing to think that there were other universes out there as he had often theorised, and there was no guarantee that his counterparts would be exactly the same as him in each of the potentially millions of alternate universes. For all he knew there maybe a universe that was made of cheese or marsh mellows. In her universe he was a fictional character. She could have quite easily have found that her counterpart in this universe was a fictional character or didn't even exist.

"What happened in this, er, movie?" He asked her cautiously as Scully looked up at him sharply but pursing her lips tightly she decided not to comment. He wanted to know if the events that he and Scully had experienced were mirrored in Jessica's version.

Jessica looked at him in surprise but went on for the next ten minutes to explain the outline of the movie and at times quoting some specific lines. She paused hesitating at the scene in the hallway looking down at her now empty plate.

"Um after the inquest Scully went to tell you that she had been transferred to Utah and well you know the rest of that particular bit..." She finished blushing furiously, feeling just as embarrassed as she would have done if she had physically walked right in on them kissing in the hallway.

Both Mulder and Scully were avoiding each others eyes. They hadn't spoken about the almost kiss but that day they had felt a shift in their friendship and silently acknowledged it by being more emotionally open and affectionate to each other as time had progressed. Mulder remembered the right hook that the 'other' Scully had planted on him after he had kissed her and smiled. Scully was thinking about his drug addled confession of love that she had skirted over with an 'oh brother' but truthfully her heart had secretly contracted when he had told her.

Jessica cleared her throat, "So Scully got stung by the bee that was carrying the alien virus and..." She continued outlining the rest of the story line until she reached the end where the giant spaceship had risen out of the ice.

"See Scully! I told you there was a spaceship! And by the sounds of it there was millions of people that saw it too!" Mulder told her, nudging her good naturedly the earlier embarrassment had evaporated and the friendly banter had resumed.

"Mulder... I never said that it didn't happen I just couldn't corroborate what you saw as I didn't see it." She told him in exasperation.

"That does tend to happen a lot you guys, " Jessica intercepted, " In most of the cases you always seem to be a couple of minutes behind Mulder so you always just miss the cool stuff which proves that it was in some way paranormal. Its quite frustrating sometimes," She told her matter of factly.

Mulder laughed and shot Scully a triumphant look as Scully scowled at him.

"Yeah laugh it up Mr I-ditch-my-partner-at-every-opportunity," Jessica retorted, watching as the gleeful look slid off his face, "Did it ever occur to you that if you took her on one of your jaunts now and then she would get to see the things you do and she would believe a little more readily?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

It was Scully's turn to laugh and to shoot him a triumph look.

"She's got a point you know." Scully mused as Mulder pouted. He knew it was one of his biggest faults and one of her biggest bugbears.

"Why do I feel like I am being ganged up on _again_? Mulder protested.

Scully reached over to him and ruffled his hair affectionately. "You're not that bad I guess, " She told him grinning at him. He relished the touch of her hand in his hair, enjoying the rare closeness that they shared and his pout diminished a little as he grudgingly conceded.

"Right you two I am going to have a bath. Do you guys fancy watching a movie tonight?" Scully asked them as she got up from her dining table and looked at her watch. It was nearly 21.00. Jessica and Mulder agreed.

Jessica cleared the table with Mulder hindering her more than helping her. She started washing the dishes and debated telling him what she wanted to say. She had been given a very rare, and privileged, demonstration of their affection and love for each other but had felt the awkwardness like a heavy blanket between them when the subject had been broached. She felt like the things that she wanted to tell Mulder were very personal but of the two of them he would be the easiest to tell. She smiled at the thought of trying to broach the subject of their relationship with Scully. She would put a cool face on and fob her off. Or she would kick her arse all the way back to England.

Mulder on the other hand was definitely the one who wore his heart on his sleeve. He would be the better choice.

"Mulder... can I tell you something?" She asked cautiously as she watched him dry the last dish and place it in the cabinet. He put the dishcloth on the side and nodded.

"Sure what's up kiddo?" He asked with his head cocked slightly to the side enquiringly. He watched as she blushed and hesitated to broach the subject. Suddenly he felt a little uneasy about what the subject matter was.

She took a deep breath and decided to just go for it, " One of the main reasons why the X Files is so loved in my universe is not just because it's a really unique premise and that it's a great show but it's because of the main characters. People love you guys and they follow you both not just to see how your quest goes but also because they feel that what you have together is so special and that it could be potentially sooo ... much more." He raised his eyebrows at her but listened with interest.

" That almost kiss that you guys had in the hallway was so anticipated that it was actually put in the trailer for the movie. When I went to see it with my mum I didn't know what it was about but when Scully suddenly got stung by that bee and the kiss didn't happen the whole audience groaned out loud." She smiled as she remembered her mum breathing 'oh bollocks' under her breath when Scully snapped away from the embrace, " Everyone had been on the edge of their seats waiting for it, that was how important it was."

She exhaled through her nose and shrugged, " What I am trying to tell you is that there are millions of people out there who just want the two of you to be happy."


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own the X Files I wish I did this is all for fun please don't sue me!

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"This is so awesome!" Jessica exclaimed as she followed Mulder through the large front entrance reception area of the Hoover Building. Her head was moving from side to side trying to drink it all in. They signed in and were waiting patiently for their turn to step through the metal detectors. She watched the large group of tourists make their way through individually growing impatient as an elderly couple seemed to be holding up the queue. Her impatience was only tempered by the happy knowledge that soon she was going to be touring their office and meeting A.D Skinner.

Finally, she stepped up to take her turn and was greeted by a face she recognised on the other side of the metal detector. It was the cute security guard that had run the wand over Scully just before she had found the implant in her neck.

"Morning," She beamed at him warmly. His eyes flitted to the visitors pass and over to Mulder standing behind her.

"Morning," He replied back reciprocating her smile. The metal detector beeped as she passed through. He raised his eyebrows and picked up the wand on the station behind him. "Please stand here." He turned back to her and started running it over her.

It beeped around her navel area, "Belly button bar." She told him smiling brightly, "I promise I'm not packing." He laughed as he waved her and Mulder through.

Before long they were standing in the packed lift on the way to the basement. Her excitement was almost palpable as the lift descended closer to the office. They had planned to meet Scully in their office after she had picked up some autopsy reports she had pending and then they had a 09.00 meeting with Skinner. She grabbed Mulder's wrist to look at the time and nodded. 08.20. That would give her enough time to scout out his office and she planned to ask him to show her how to throw pencils into the ceiling tiles. She smiled at him bouncing on the balls of her feet slightly with barely repressed excitement. He hoped that she wouldn't be disappointed even though he had repeatedly warned her that it was _just_ an office. She had rolled her eyes at him and told him that it wasn't _just_ an office it was _their_ office. The _'durr'_ had been implied in her tone.

She bounced down the corridor after him taking in all the boxes and the dusty filing cabinets that lined the wall but Mulder noticed that she seemed to pause hesitantly outside the door as he unlocked it and it swung open. He inclined his head to the open space inviting her to step in first and she felt a shiver run through her as his hand touched the back of her upper arm to move her gently forward.

She blushed and taking a deep breath she stepped forward. Her face lit up as her lips broke into an ear splitting smile. " This is so cool!".

She walked around taking in all the paraphernalia that she knew so well and associated with them. Her eyes hungrily took in the files stacked on the filing cabinets, the infamous 'I want to believe' poster, his name plaque and disorganised desk. Every square inch of the walls behind his desk was littered with newspaper cuttings, bizarre pictures and photos, and random post it notes with his scrawl on them. Every available surface was covered with piles of stacked books, magazines, reports, and in odd places strange nick nacks which obviously had some significant value or memory to him. There were two or three storage bins with charts rolled neatly in them. Looking up she saw some pencils still stuck in the ceiling tiles with small holes scattered concentrated all over two or three tiles. She knew that in his complicated mind there was probably a system in the chaos.

In contrast she could see further into the barely illuminated recess of the office the neat work station and storage area that was obviously where Scully had tried to keep some semblance of order. She could just make out his projector on one of the small tables. She could definitely confirm which part was Scully's area and which was his.

Mulder had finished rummaging through the one of the lower drawers in the cabinet and was reading a file when she finally finished walking around. The office itself wasn't very large but the quantity of stuff they had in it was pretty substantial.

"Er... Mulder?" He looked up from the file with an enquiring look.

"I was wondering if you aren't too busy later if you could show me how you throw the pencils into the ceiling tiles?" She asked him haltingly.

"I'm never too busy to do that." He smiled. Looking at his watch and realising it was only 08.40 he walked around his desk and put the file down, "Come on I'll show you now."

Scully entered the office ten minutes later to find Jessica laughing as Mulder narrowly dodged a pencil landing on his head. "No, its like a dart you are throwing from the wrist its your arm you need to use." He took another pencil off the table aimed and it hit its target the tip imbedding itself into the tile.

Jessica raised her hand and he met it mid air, "Bo yeah!

She shook her head with her eyebrow raised, "Well its good to know you guys are doing something constructive."

"Uh-oh busted." Jessica grimaced glancing at Mulder.

Mulder nodded, "Don't worry, I think it's just me that's in trouble. I'm the adult."

"Supposedly." Scully jibed him good naturedly as she shucked out of her overcoat and hung it up," Come on you two we need to make our way up we have less than ten minutes until our meeting."

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Jessica stood in the middle of the two agents watching the dial above the door count upwards to the sixth floor. Intermittently the lift stopped to let in or off the other agents as they went about their morning business. She half listened to the various conversations of work, things they had done on the weekend and plans for the upcoming week.

As they arrived at the third floor Jessica's heart skipped a beat then plummeted as Diana Fowley stepped smoothly into the lift. There goes the feel good mood she had had this morning. She felt all the venom that she and her friends had targeted at this woman pump through her veins thinking back to when in the earlier series she had caused a rift between their favourite characters. She narrowed her eyes as she smiled at Mulder and she could feel Scully tense slightly next to her right arm.

"Fox," She said breathily, as she sidled up to him as if the lift was crowded although most of the agents had disembarked and it could comfortably fit the 6 people that were currently in it without being in too close proximity to each other.

Mulder cleared his throat, "Hey Diana. How are you?"

The atmosphere in the lift seemed to thicken amongst the four people that knew each other. The other two agents behind them continued their quiet conversation not noticing the tension.

"I'm well thanks, haven't seen you in a while." Her dark eyes slid over Jessica, "And who's this?"

"Jessica, we're trying to get her home to England." He told her not elaborating on her story, "Jessica this is Agent Fowley." He introduced her guessing that if Jessica already knew so much about him and Scully she was also probably clued up on his ex partner.

Diana looked her over with interest. She wondered how Mulder and Scully had ended up babysitting a lost tourist and figured it was something to do with X Files. It wasn't the first time that they had protected someone as young as her because of a gift or a paranormal connection of some kind. Gibson Praise had only been a young boy when he had exhibited his amazing powers and this teenager looked harmless enough and casual in her simple outfit of jeans, a white t shirt and her flip flops. However, Gibson had been watched and monitored from very early on. She didn't know anything about this girl and her interest was piqued. She decided to make some calls when she got back to her office.

She smiled at her politely but Jessica could see the smile didn't reach her eyes. She returned her smile coldly and remembering her manners told her it was nice to meet her. She could feel Mulders eyes boring into her and wouldn't meet them choosing to keep hers resolutely focused on Diana.

Diana nodded and turned back to Mulder who tore his gaze away from Jessica to look at her as she put her hand on his arm. "Fox, I was wondering if you would like to pop by this evening I wanted to share some information with you."

Jessica closed her eyes trying to control her rising temper as she smarmed all over Mulder. Her tone had definitely implied that she didn't in any way want to talk about work. This woman was antagonising Scully and Mulder was obviously stuck in the middle not wanting to push her away but obviously very aware that it was hitting a nerve with his partner. It was the same every time _this woman_ showed up. Jessica could almost feel Scully's humiliation. She set her jaw angrily. She was going to show her up even if it meant getting Mulder defensive like he always did when someone took a swipe at her.

Scully looked fixedly on the dial as it ascended cursing the slight flush that had raised in her cheekbones. She hated that this woman unnerved her so much and she was a constant reminder of the rift she had caused between them the previous year. Each time she stepped into their lives, even for a couple of minutes like this, she felt a small niggle of doubt creep into her heart over Mulder's feelings for her. He would look at her at times with such affection, his emotions broadcasting in his smouldering eyes that she allowed herself to believe that he reciprocated her feelings and then Diana would appear and the doubt would set in. She could see the conflict in his emotions and could feel the well practised iron plates clamp around her wounded heart _yet again_.

Her mortification was complete as she realised that Jessica probably knew what impact Diana had had on them in the past and the emotions that she was fighting against now as she tried to keep her expertly cool façade in tact. Her attention was pulled back to Jessica as she spoke before Mulder had an opportunity to reply to Diana's request.

"Agent Fowley, I know its probably inappropriate to ask considering we have only just met," She avoided Mulder's gaze as his eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, "but I was wondering if I could bum a cigarette?" She asked innocently.

Diana looked at her in surprise and answered coolly, " Sorry, I don't smoke."

"Oh, I'm sorry... I could have sworn I smelt smoke on you." Jessica replied. She watched for her reaction and although she wore a confused expression on her face Jessica noted with satisfaction that she had paled a little. She shrugged almost nonchalantly which didn't fool Mulder for a second, "My bad."

With excellent timing the lift lurched to a stop at the sixth floor. Scully ducked her head trying to stifle a small laugh as she hurriedly stepped out of the lift and made her way down the corridor towards A.D Skinner's office.

"Well I think this is us, it was nice to meet you." She smiled brightly at Mulder and Diana, then stepped off the lift after Scully.

She met up with Scully further down the corridor leaving Mulder behind. They watched as Mulder quietly finished his conversation with her.

Jessica crossed her arms and scowled at the pair next to the lift. "Well at least I can cross wicked witch off my list." She said drily. She looked down at Scully and as their eyes met they both laughed.

"You shouldn't have done that. Mulder is going to be mad at you." Scully told her reluctantly as she watched her partners rigid stance, his body language betraying his annoyance. Jessica shrugged but felt a small twinge of nervousness at having to face him for her slight on his ex wife and partner. She watched with trepidation as he stalked towards them. She had seen him in previous episodes lose his temper but it was a completely different thing from watching it and being on the receiving end of it. He was pissed and he looked intimidating as he approached them.

Jessica set her jaw with determination and decided to not let him intimidate her. She didn't like Diana and she was going to tell him so. She noted again with satisfaction that behind him Diana was walking towards her office surreptitiously smelling her clothes.

"What the hell was that about?" He asked her quietly, his usually warm expressive eyes regarding her coldly.

" She's a first class bitch, I don't like her and you shouldn't trust her." Jessica told him in a tone that dripped with contempt.

Through the anger she saw surprise register on his face at her comment and his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Jessica-" Scully reached out her hand to her trying to curb the potential fall out from this showdown. She knew Mulder better than anyone and she could see that he was close to losing it in the hallway where luckily the other agents hadn't yet noticed the ensuing argument.

"No Scully," She told her firmly glancing at her and then meeting his eyes again, "He needs to hear this. He didn't believe it before when it came from you but what he doesn't realise is that you have a better measure of her character and her motives than he ever did."

She addressed him quietly, matching his glare with her own, " I know you are helping me and I appreciate that _but_ I am entitled to my opinion and I am going to give it to you. _She_ is universally hated for the rift she caused between the two of you a while ago and I will be perfectly honest a lot of people were pretty pissed at you at the time, me included."

His face paled slightly as he realised she was talking about the night they had argued in front of the Gunmen in their lair about Diana's affiliations and the ensuing events. He knew that he had hurt Scully by not taking on board her accusations and she had been embarrassed in the presence of the men that had become mutual friends. He was once again reminded of the uncomfortable fact that this girl had access to their most private and sometimes painful past.

" What you seemed to have failed to realise is that not only do I know about you and Scully I also know, perhaps only fleetingly but still more than you do, all the people that are connected to you and the 'X Files'. I can tell you this with absolute certainty that although you don't know me from Adam you can trust _me_ more than you can _that woman_." She finished insolently.

Even though Mulder felt his anger ebb slightly he couldn't help feeling slightly embarrassed. She had called him out on his previous misdemeanours with Diana and Scully, and if truth be told every time he ran into Diana he did always dread the impending fallout with Scully.

She never pulled him up on it but the look of hurt that flitted over her face never escaped him and he knew that Diana always seemed to find a way of unsettling his younger partner. He would always have to work hard to bring Scully back to him each time. He would see the walls build in her until a cool mask finally slipped over her beautiful face. It would only take seconds to build and set itself around her but then it would take him days to break it down again until normality was re established.

He hated that there was a small rift there over Diana but he couldn't bring himself to push Diana away regardless of the overwhelming feeling he had that she couldn't be completely trusted. He had so few friends in the world and although he felt nothing for her anymore he couldn't bring himself to let go of his past.

Scully watched with apprehension as Jessica and Mulder continued to stare at each other both refusing to look away first.

"Agents?" All three jumped slightly as they turned to see A.D Skinner standing in the doorway of his office with a file in his hand, looking at the trio sternly with a small frown on his handsome face. He would have laughed at their flustered expressions if he had not been concerned at the obvious tension that crackled between them. Mulder recovered first and he watched as he shot a look at the teenager that clearly said _This conversation isn't over._

Surprisingly, she reciprocated the look with a very obvious message, _You bet your arse this conversation isn't over._ Mulder balked slightly and set his jaw as he read the expressions so clearly portrayed on her face.

Skinner almost smiled as he watched this young woman do what a lot of people had failed to do. Stand up and not quell under Mulder's smouldering anger. He figured it was based on the confidence that only a teenager on the brink of adulthood could have. That precious couple of years where they haven't felt the hardships of life, believing themselves to be immortal and that they could fight the injustices in the world singlehandedly.

He only knew of the basic facts about this girl that they had relayed to him on Saturday. Mulder had called him to request permission to help her and so to speak take her case on entreating him on the basis that he believed it to be an X File. He had a feeling that this adolescent was going to be a handful and almost sympathised with the younger agents about the potential headache that would ensue.

He sighed as Scully approached him trying to gloss the situation over in her usual diplomatic manner by clearing her throat and telling him, "Sir, this is Jessica." She waved to her and Jessica stepped forward resolutely to be introduced.

"It's nice to meet you sir," She told him respectfully as she held her hand out. He smiled at her and took her hand.

"Likewise Miss Myers. Come into my office." He stepped aside and let her enter his spacious office before him. He glanced back at the agents to ask them what the hell this girl had been standing toe to toe with Mulder about and decided against it. He nodded at them as they followed him silently not looking at each other.

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Ok so I know I will probably get burned for this chapter after all the fluff before but I had to mention it because it meant I could get one up on Diana on Scully's behalf so isn't it worth a little angst?! I was really peeved at Mulder for what he did to Scully over Diana and well ... _I just hate that woman!_

I promise though we will return back to normal fluff etc after this! Thanks for the reviews and follows as always xx


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the X Files, characters etc

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Jessica looked around the office in interest. She almost laughed at the comparison of the two offices that she had toured today. Each office reflected the occupants characteristics perfectly. Skinner's office was large, brightly lit and clean almost to a fault. The wooden and glass surfaces gleamed in the morning sunlight. The desk was neatly arranged with everything that he needed to do his job, the phone, ink blotter, lamp, name plaque and various files were all set at right angles to each other, each in its designated place. His office and arrangement of its contents epitomised his military, no nonsense persona. Mulder on the other hand worked in chaos, the only reason his office was as clean as it was, was due to Scully's diligent fight to keep some semblance of order even though it must be at times like fighting in a losing war.

She returned her gaze back to him as he offered her a seat and sat himself across from her in his large black office chair with a sigh. Mulder grabbed one of the surplus chairs and seated himself next to Jessica, Scully taking residence in her normal place on the other side of Jessica.

Once everyone was seated and their attention was steadfastly on him he turned to Jessica. "Miss Myers, tell me what happened on Saturday." He asked getting straight to business.

"Please call me Jessica," She asked as he nodded in acknowledgment and gave her a small smile to continue. "I take it you have my background, where I am from etcetera?"

He simply nodded and waited for her to continue. She retold her story for what she felt was the fiftieth time since she had arrived here outlining everything that had happened on that peculiar day until she had left the police station. She watched him as she recited for him the events waiting for a look of disbelief, or incredulity that she had had to endure since she had arrived here.

She had always thought that he reminded her of her friend Ollie's dad Tom. His handsome face, although not in the same vain as Mulder's was stern and conventional, but strangely soothing. He radiated strength, power and above all stability. You could trust this man with your life. In essence he was like a male version of Scully dependable and resilient and yet had a caring nature that sometimes was reflected in his brown eyes. Mulder was better looking though, there was a vulnerability that seemed to disarm you easily. He wore his emotions pretty openly. Skinner was essentially a father figure. She could objectively see that he was handsome but felt nothing in regards to attraction. You just couldn't help liking this man. Now that she had met him in person she liked him even more.

He listened to her without interruption until she had finished and then turned to Mulder. " Your theory agent Mulder," looking down at the file they had left on his desk yesterday afternoon, " is that lightning has caused a conduit that has allowed Jessica to pass from one universe to the next. Essentially a parallel universe."

Mulder acknowledged this sentence and elaborated, " Yes sir. I think that the storm was a catalyst for an event that caused Jessica to move from her world to ours. The theory that universes co exist in the same time and space is well established and I believe that she is proof of this." He paused quickly glancing at her," In her world we are fictional characters. She has given us extensive information on our personal lives and cases pertaining to the X Files going back over the last six years. It seems that in her universe our cases are a science fiction show starting from the beginning of Agent Scully's involvement on the X Files."

Skinner digested this information in silence with an unreadable look on his face. He was used to Mulder's unorthodox theories although this time he seemed to be pushing the boat out. He had respect for Mulder being a top profiler and an excellent investigator however much he frustrated everyone with his unusual methods. The fact was that the partnership was one of the strongest he had every known and the cases were often resolved in one manner or another. He looked over at Scully who had her lips pursed and her eyes on her lap studiously picking non existent lint off of her pristine skirt with her delicate fingers. He could tell from her body language that she clearly was undecided as to her theory in this case.

"Agent Scully what is your theory in this case? As a physicist do you agree with this theory?"

She took a deep breath and exhaled through her nose to his surprise answering a little hesitantly, " Truthfully, I am still undecided about my theory in this case sir."

"As a physicist I would have to say that the theories on parallel universes are established although obviously not proven. Jessica may be proof of this though we would have to conduct further studies and with time we may reach a conclusion. We have enlisted help to try to ascertain the particulars of the event itself," Skinner correctly guessed that she was referring to the Lone Gunmen, " but again it will take time to get all the facts to come to confirm or reject this theory.

"Medically, I would have to advise that I do not believe that Jessica has been struck by lightning. She experienced symptoms of it but on physical examination and testing blood and urine there is no indication of the damage that would be caused if this happened. The symptoms that she had could just as easily be explained by a severe concussion or being drugged with an unknown agent. Again everything is currently inconclusive. My original theory in which she was abducted and implanted with information for a purpose to which eludes me at present is still the most logical explanation I can offer." She finished not feeling completely satisfied that she had answered his question.

"Jessica. You believe Agent Mulder's theory?" He asked quietly after thanking Scully for her assessment.

"Yes sir completely. Although Agent Scully's theory does sound more realistic," She admitted openly, " I can't explain why and what's happened to me but I am telling the truth."

Skinner looked at her intently for a minute and then closed the file. He understood why Scully was having a hard time trying to establish scientific grounds for this case he believed Jessica even if what had happened to her defied belief. He had seen too many things in the past six years to discount her completely out of hand but the situation was categorically unusual even for the X Files. He saw the potential downfall of this kind of reasoning, for the men that worked against them could have quite easily used this girl as a pawn to orchestrate some elaborate scheme. She could quite easily be a spy, even if she herself didn't realise it, in some insidious plan. They had all made sacrifices in Mulder's quest and as he reasoned with himself it wasn't the first time they had all been fooled.

He could still feel a slight tension between all three of them and resolved to address it now that they were in the privacy of his office away from the gossiping agents in the hallway. "What was the conflict outside about?"

Mulder who had been resolutely watching his boss closed his eyes in embarrassment. He had only been in work for an hour and already he had a feeling that it was going to be a long day. Jessica blushed slightly starting to feel ashamed of her outburst at Mulder after her anger had dissipated. Even though she had intended to defend Scully she knew she had caused more damage than good. She knew that later when she wandered off as planned to spend the day in D.C and they continued to their office they would skirt around each other awkwardly. She felt bad that she had created that tension.

Jessica cleared her throat as Mulder snapped his eyes towards her, "It was my fault sir. I lost my temper and spoke out of turn to Agent Mulder." She smiled at Skinner shyly, " My dad tells me I have my mothers Hispanic temper and I have a tendency to speak before my brain is engaged. It's my worst fault."

She inclined her head to Mulder and with real sincerity addressed him, " And I am sorry." Mulder felt the last of his anger flow away and gave her small lopsided smile and nodded accepting her apology. He had felt a deep sense of dread when Jessica had opened her mouth to answer that she was going to explain what had happened with Diana. Mortification would not even come close to describing what he would have felt if their boss had been apprised of that situation.

Skinner quickly glanced at Scully sure that she had let out a small breath of relief and saw how all three visibly relaxed slightly. "Right agents, " He dismissed them as they stood and started walking towards the door, "Keep me apprised. And Miss Myers," Jessica turned to look at him, " Keep that temper in check."

She laughed and smiled at him winningly, " Will do sir."

He smiled when the door closed turning back to the next thick file that sat on his desk ready to be addressed and muttered, " Definitely a headache."

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Mulder entered the basement office to find Scully reading through the autopsy results she had picked up earlier. She smiled at him when he greeted her handing her a coffee and putting his own coffee down he took his jacket off to hang it up. He had just taken Jessica back to see her back through the security area so that she could go for a wander in the sunshine whilst they finished their work day. They had stood in an awkward silence in the lift until it reached the reception and he had finally spoken to her.

"Thanks for not telling Skinner the particulars about our argument." He had said to her quietly.

She had turned to him in surprise. "I would never have embarrassed you like that. I mean I know I had a go at you but it would have been well out of order to voice something like that to someone like your boss."

He had smiled at her and asked her what her plans were. She had told him that she was planning to have a walk about, scope the area then return to Scully's apartment. She also told him that she would make dinner for them, and promising not to burn down the building in the process at the worried look he gave her, he had told her that they should be back for about six-ish.

On the way back to the office he had picked up two coffees and had resolved to apologise to Scully about the incident this morning hoping to ease any tension between the two of them. Even though Jessica had apologised about her part in it, the fact of the matter was that she had only lost her temper with him because of the way Diana had acted around him in the lift. She had attacked Diana and defended Scully.

In the conversation that he had had just outside the lift with Diana he had told her that he had to decline her offer for that evening as he had work to do. She had seemed really put out by his fobbing her off but had instead turned her line of questioning to Jessica which he had been more than a little reluctant to share information. He had been surprised by Jessica's direct snipe at his ex partner and felt that it was directed not only at Diana but also at himself. Jessica had obviously confirmed his suspicion minutes later by hitting him right between the eyes with the accusation. This had been another jibe about his having the tendency to ditch Scully. She felt that through his actions he, however inadvertently, managed to hurt his partner by failing to choose her side.

"Well, I think that meeting went well." Scully said diplomatically. "Skinner seems to like Jessica."

"Yeah I think he likes the ball breaker type," he told her pointedly," wonder who she reminds him of?" he asked teasing her shooting a look over his shoulder. Scully raised her eyebrow at him and glared.

"Come on Scully you know you're his favourite and he has a soft spot for you."

"Mulder I am not going to dignify that with an answer." She told him matter of factly as she picked up her file again and resolutely refused to get pulled into one of his teasing sessions again where he ribbed her for Skinner's apparent favouritism of her. He always ended up making her blush much to her chagrin.

He walked over to her and leaned against his desk in front of her. " Listen Scully I know it got a bit heated earlier but I just wanted to tell you that Jessica was right and that I am also really sorry." He confessed, her eyebrows shot up at him in surprise. He had never apologised for Diana's behaviour before and his need to trust his shadowy ex partner.

"Jessica knew about what had happened before between us and I never really said I was sorry that I didn't believe you. You're my best friend I should have at least known that you were trying to protect me and our work." He looked at her openly with his soft expressive eyes and she felt the walls that she had built around her heart start to crumble.

"I can't cut Diana out of my life completely we went through too much to do that but I want you to believe me when I tell you that I would chose you any day over her." He told her with upmost sincerity. She felt a lump form in her throat as his eyes entreated her to believe him. He had worded his statement so that she could read it in any way she wanted to, a fact that had not escaped her attention. He would choose her any day as his partner both in work _and_ in life.

She gave him a watery smile and standing up she stepped into his arms wrapping her arms around his middle and lay her head on his chest. He encased her body with his large arms and tenderly placed a kiss on the her forehead. She felt the softness of his lips linger there and savouring the smell of his cologne she closed her eyes happily. He could smell the strawberry shampoo and soft vanilla of her perfume as she stayed in his arms breathing her in deeply as he closed his eyes in contentment at this never ending hug.

He debated whether to tell her what Jessica had said yesterday about people just wanting for them to be happy and the near kiss in the hallway. They had both suspected each others feelings for the other for a long time now but neither had dared utter them in fear of the potential repercussions to their life and work or rejection. Somehow it suddenly just seemed like an excuse to avoid something that they were deathly afraid of, the choice to step into unchartered territory.

He decided against telling Scully about last night's conversation as she was already overwhelmed as it was about people knowing their private life so intimately. He settle instead on telling her exactly how he felt at that moment. How he had felt for so long.

"I'm in love with you." He whispered into her hair. He felt her tense slightly in his arms as her head moved to look up at him. He didn't dare open his eyes as he could feel those beautiful blue eyes look over his face. If he opened his eyes and saw her rejection his heart would stop right there at that second. He felt one of her hands leave his back and winced waiting for the inevitable right hook that he had experienced only months beforehand to make contact with his jaw again.

Instead he felt her small soft hand touch his cheek with the softest of caresses. "I'm in love with you too Mulder." She whispered back. He opened his eyes to see her grinning up at him with that smile that he loved so much but rarely got to see. He let out his breath in relief not realising that he had been holding it.

He leant in closing the small gap between them and kissed her.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the X Files etc

Also info for lightning/thunderstorms etc got off JFK Space centre website - just on the internet.

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"Coming." Jessica shouted towards the door as she put the small potato peeler down and wiped her hands down the front of her apron. She padded across to the door and looked into the view finder.

"Oh my God," She gasped in shock as she saw the Lone Gunmen on the other side of the door, all three of them looking up and down the corridor shiftily. She paused collecting herself and steadying her breath before she opened the door. They all momentarily, in unison, looked her up and down before moving forward into the apartment. She let them in closing the door behind her and turned to all three. "I can't believe you guys came here!"

"Well, we called Mulder earlier to tell them we need to speak to them about our results." Frohike answered her eyeing her warily, waving the large A4 envelope he held in his hand.

" If you spoke to Mulder he would have told you that they aren't planning on being back until about six, " She glanced at the clock on the cooker and noted that it was only just gone four, " I take it Mulder also asked you guys to come here to keep an eye on me knowing that I was going to be cooking." He obviously hadn't trusted her not to burn the apartment down despite her reassurances that she cooked the family meal often when her mum had to work late.

Their expressions confirmed her suspicions. "Well, " She said brightly, " If I have to have babysitters there is no-one else I would prefer to have. Please take a seat I am just prepping the Tortilla. Want a drink?"

They all sat down and watched her rifle through the fridge, "Orange juice, apple juice, water?" They each got a glass of juice and proceeded to watch her as she went back to peeling the potatoes. "So can you guys tell me what you found or are we waiting Mulder and Scully?" The men all exchanged looks.

"It's ok guys we don't have to talk about it til they get back." She smiled and turned back to the cupboards looking for a large pan and frying pan.

"So what are you making?" Langley asked. Jessica rolled her eyes typical men if in doubt turn to food.

"We're having tortilla, Spanish omelette to you guys, chicken, tomatoes and salad. Would you like to stay for dinner? There's plenty. You guys can talk shop at dinner." She invited giving them a charming smile.

"I promise I can cook better than Mulder." She coaxed them. They laughed and relaxing a little agreed to stay.

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Mulder and Scully arrived at the apartment to find its four guests sitting around the kitchen table chatting. The smell of cooking chicken made Mulder's stomach growl.

"Mmmm... something smells gooo-ood." He sauntered over the sofa and removed his jacket and tie undoing his top button. He slouched down on one of the kitchen chairs and looked at the men.

"A ye of little faith," She looked at him nodding at the guys, " Look I cooked and _amazingly_, " she gave him a look of exaggerated awe with wide eyes," the building is still in tact." Mulder had the decency to look a bit sheepish.

"Ok ok I'm sorry I doubted you," he held his hands up," but at least you had a chance to meet them." He pointed out.

" I'll let you off this once." She told him slightly mollified. She had had a good time with them for the last couple of hours.

Scully made her way to the bedroom to change into something more comfortable. Truthfully she just needed a couple of minutes to herself after what had been an extremely eventful day. They had confessed how they felt about each other. She put her fingers to her mouth and let them trail over lips. She could still feel his soft lips against hers. It had started as tentative and gentle kiss. Then it had deepened into a kiss that had lasted forever but felt like it was seconds before they had pulled away. She had smiled at him and put her hand to his face again before turning away and sitting at her desk. He had understood it wasn't a rejection it was just simply too dangerous to carry on the way they had at work and he had sat back at his desk. She smiled as she thought of how for the rest of the day they had kept catching each other staring at different intervals. Their afternoon had passed mainly in comfortable silence as they had tried to do their paperwork. She had done paperwork he had done what he always does and tried to look busy. The only interruption had been Frohike's call about wanting to pop around.

They had agreed to keep everything under wraps until they got Jessica home and then they could concentrate on how to proceed with this new development in their relationship. She blushed slightly as she thought about the likelihood of something happening here at her apartment tonight had they not had guests. Sighing she dragged herself off her bed and opened the drawers looking for something to wear.

When Scully returned to the kitchen and sat down next to Mulder, Jessica turned to them all. " Ok chicken is going to be ready in about fifteen minutes. Please _now_ can we talk?" She had been glancing at the clock every ten minutes since about five waiting for the agents to get back. She really hoped that the Gunmen had found something for her to cling to.

Frohike passed her the envelope. She looked over the images. She was looking at what looked like a swirling white tornado.

"We hacked the MET office and pulled these images. They're satellite images show a squall line thunderstorm. A supercell. It was twenty miles wide. This hasn't been seen for decades in that part of the country. Last one was 1946." Langley informed them.

"Okkkaaayyy." Jessica said slowly. "So it was a huge storm. I got struck by lightning. How do I get back?"

The men exchanged glances, and Jessica felt her heart plummet.

"The thing is Jessica you were extremely lucky the last time you were hit," Byers told her softly watching her silently laugh at the statement, " that even if we could duplicate the same atmospheric conditions and you were struck by lightning the likelihood this time around is you would..."

"die." She finished for him morosely. She sighed heavily. "Can it be duplicated?"

"What?" Byers asked her in surprise.

"Can you replicate it?" She repeated. The men looked at her uncomfortably.

Byers hesitated slightly shaking his head, " Well there is lightning-related research currently being conducted by NASA Langley scientists. It relates mainly to aircraft-triggered lightning by flying specially instruments and weather-hardened aircraft through thunderstorms. Much of the work was discovered with an F-106B fighter airplane. The MSFC have been working in conjunction with Langley have been investigating lightning by satellite but its only a means by its Optical Transient Detector which detects and locates lightning from orbit but all this does is detect the lightning over the global electrical circuit." He paused regretting the fact that he had to give her bad news," It doesn't recreate it although I am pretty sure they are trying to as well as other organisations probably closer to your home."

"So my options are that I have to hope that I get struck by lightning at some point in the future or I start playing with the toaster and take my chances?" She asked them.

"I'm sorry Jessica we have no options at the moment but we'll keep researching." Frohike told her. Jessica sighed again and dry rubbed her face. Mulder and Scully had sat quietly throughout the information given. Scully bit her lip and opened her mouth to try to console her but finally closed it without thinking of anything to say. She glanced up at Mulder and saw the same look mirrored on his face. How do you tell this sixteen year old that she can't go home?

She closed her eyes and took a shaky breath, "Ok, well I have only one option then. You have to hand me over to the British Government." She told them resolutely.

"WHAT?!" All five of them exclaimed.

"You have to hand me over," Mulder leant forward to argue but she cut him off before he could say anything, "No listen to me. If your Government is conducting experiments it would mean that mine are too. I can't exactly call them and tell them what has happened but I am pretty sure that if _someone_ from your government told them that you have an illegal immigrant in your country as soon as they get me and start investigating into it they will start to put the pieces together. They can do their tests and maybe they can get me back. If not, at least I would be at home if nothing else. I can't exactly live here for the rest of my life." She told him reasonably.

"Jessica if these people get hold of you, they will never let you go." Langley told her voicing all their thoughts.

"I know that but what option do I have?" She asked him simply.

"Jessica we are not going to hand you over." Mulder told her firmly. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "I am just saying," He said loudly in frustration before they got into another argument, " lets not be too hasty it's still only been a couple of days these guys will keep trying to find another way and then... well we'll see how that goes first." He finished quietly.

He watched as she raised her eyebrow at him but nodded in agreement. He knew she wouldn't let it go. Suddenly the timer beeped indicating that dinner was ready and broke the silence.

"Ok." She agreed and then smiled, "Dinners ready. Let's eat."

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"This is really good," Scully told her after taking a mouthful of the tortilla. It was rare that they had a good home cooked meal after work especially so when she didn't have to cook it. She ate as healthily as she could but so often she had to eat out and the choices were very rarely to her taste or as healthy as she would like.

"Thanks. It's our family dinner we have it once a month for Sunday lunch. My grandfather is Spanish," She explained," he lives in a small pueblo in Minaya, near Madrid. Every year we go for two weeks in the summer holidays to visit our extended family."

"So can you speak Spanish?" Langley asked taking another mouthful of chicken.

"Yeah, my mum taught me and my sisters when we were learning to speak. I grew up with it from the beginning. I think it was confusing for us at first because apparently I used to start speaking in English and switch to Spanish without knowing I had done it but it kind of works in my favour now," she told them shrugging, " I found it a real advantage when I started to do French at school. I found it really easy and picked it up fast so my school suggested to my parents to put me into a program where I can also learn Italian. I have classes twice a week after school with Signora Trevecca."

"So you can speak four languages?" Langley asked with slightly incredulous look on his face. She could see he thought she was exaggerating her talents. She raised her eyebrow and smiled at him.

She waved her hand over the table, "¿quieres un poco más tortilla?"

" Not Spanish huh? How about some French, "She pointed to the salad and bowl of chopped tomatoes," Voulez-vous un peu plus de salade et les tomates hachées? or Italian?" pointing to the platter of chicken, "ti piacerebbe un po 'di pollo?" She noted that his expression had changed from mildly disbelieving to mildly impressed. As had all the other adults. She knew that she had been showing off when he had discreetly challenged her but she had enjoyed rising to it.

"That is so fucking hot." Frohike muttered.

"Frohike!" Mulder and Scully exclaimed as Jessica threw her head back and laughed, her long hair swaying slightly.

"Don't beat up on him I take it as a major compliment," she told them smiling warmly at Frohike and then addressed Scully," besides don't worry Scully I think his heart will always belong to you. You don't have to worry about any competition."

"Always." Frohike put his hand to his heart and winked at Scully. She rolled her eyes as Mulder looked at her lovingly. Jessica's jaw dropped slightly at the look he gave her. It was a universal truth that everyone knew that they loved each other but usually they were so guarded with the way they looked at each other around other people. Mulder was openly gazing at her. _Did something happen after she left them? _In a flash it was gone. It seemed she was the only one that had noticed it. He looked down at his plate and took another mouthful of his food.

" It seems you have a talent for languages. Are you planning a career around that?" Byers asked wiping his mouth with a napkin bringing her attention back from the loved up duo.

"Yeah I want to work for the E.E.C as a translator." She turned to him as he smiled at her softly. It was obviously something she was really excited about and the five adults were impressed about her career choice although the three Gunmen were always suspicious of Government regardless of which country it was based in, " I am taking Business, French and Italian when I start Sixth Form in September."

Her face fell slightly as she remembered what they had told her. Each of them read the expression on her face and felt a twinge of sympathy. They all looked at each other having a silent conversation with their eyes. Jessica suddenly felt the awkwardness at the table and rolled her eyes. She had to come to terms with her current situation and live with the fact that she would have to re-evaluate her future. She hated that everyone always felt sorry for her.

She took a deep breath and put a brave face on, " But I having been rethinking my career goals. I think I might have to become a storm chaser." She threw them a lopsided grin and joked, " It sounds like it would be a lot less paperwork and a lot more action!"

Frohike chuckled, " Yeah paperwork is a bitch. So tell me how do you say 'you're one hot mama' in French?" His question earned him a shower of thrown napkins from all the table's occupants.


	9. Chapter 9

Jessica was singing at the top of her voice to Destiny's Child as she chopped up the strawberries and banana, she scooped up the mixture and placed it into the blender. She swayed her hips flicking her hair back dancing on the spot as she could just make out the noise of the blender over Beyoncé singing.

"Boy I know you want me I can see it all inside, but you keep on fronting won't you say what's on your mind," She sang along knowing the words and tune backwards after having listened to it million times with her friends. She knew she could carry a tune but took the volume down slightly very aware that if Scully got a complaint from her neighbours she would be in for it.

She had pottered around the large apartment that morning dusting, wiping the surfaces and tidying it up after their visitors from last night but making sure she didn't knock anything over. Truthfully the apartment was pretty spotless so it had taken her less than hour to straighten it up. It probably would have taken her a lot less time had she not been dancing around for the majority of the hour intermittently singing but she hadn't been in any rush. She had no plans today.

She had decided to make herself some breakfast then she would go for a shower and have another walk around D.C. It was such a beautiful day and now that she had acclimatised a little to being here she wanted to take advantage of seeing the amazing city not knowing when the next time she would be here or if ever she would get back. Her mood dipped slightly as she remembered what the Lone Gunmen had told her the night before.

She was for all intent and purposes stuck here for now. They were still working hard to try to get her home but the chances were looking slimmer. She took a glass out of the cabinet and poured in her just made smoothie. She leant against the counter sipping at it dejectedly looking at the small mess she had made on the chopping board.

She had voiced her fears last night to the group in a joking manner about being a storm chaser. She figured that they hadn't bought the forced cheeriness. They knew she was scared. At least she wasn't alone. They had acted quite naturally around her but she knew that the Gunmen hadn't trusted her either. Like Mulder and Scully hadn't in the beginning. At least both of them were starting to come round to her. She figured the gunmen would never trust her if Mulder and Scully were paranoid these guys were bonkers.

She smiled affectionately thinking about the trio. It was impossible not to help but like them. Like she had mumbled to Mulder the other night, everyone loves the Gunmen. They were so uber intelligent and yet so clueless around women. She frowned slightly as she started to think about her uncertain future. It was still early days but if they didn't get her home, if they _couldn't _help her then she would have to look at living hand to mouth and actually chase storms in the hope that one would finally get her home. She couldn't rely on Mulder and Scully for the rest of her life. _Don't think about it_. Hopefully it won't come to that.

She sighed as the cd skipped forward from the last track to the first and took the earphones off rubbing her ears. She turned and gasped, letting out a loud shriek. She dropped the glass and it exploded on the floor with a resounding shatter. Neither of them looked at it with their eyes locked on each other.

"Hello, Jessica." She stared at the tall man dressed all in black that she recognised from his intermittent cameos in previous episodes and she felt a wave of fear cascade over her. She knew he was there for her.

She swallowed heavily past the lump of fear that had formed in her throat and finally managed to find her voice, "Hello Krychek." She replied doggedly.

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Krychek pulled into the small petrol station. He went around the back of the car quickly checking the trunk. Jessica was bound and still out cold. He checked her clammy forehead quickly and nodded in satisfaction. She would be out for another couple of hours. They had been on the road for nearly five hours. He closed the trunk and stretched his back feeling it crack in place again. He grunted as he felt his tired muscles stretch, locking the car he decided to stretch his legs and get a coffee to try and wake up a little bit.

He had been called by CSM last night and had been told about the teenager in his trunk. He had taken the job having just landed back in D.C the night before, after catching the red eye from Russia. He had flown out on Thursday to deal with a small containment breach at a research facility which had turned out to be an escaped test subject. He had shot him without a second thought after chasing him for a couple of miles through a dense forest. He was tired but the money for basically babysitting for a couple of days delivering her to the other side of the country was too appealing, then he would be able to relax.

He had read the transcripts from the bugs they had placed in the apartment and the office. It also seemed mostly fluff that had at some points made him feel nauseous and the development in Mulder and Scully's relationship was definitely an interesting turn of events although it had been inevitable. He rolled his eyes it had been on the cards for a while but it had taken them long enough. Mulder was such a loser he would have moved in on Scully a long time ago if he had been in his position. He let his mind wonder for a minute thinking about the little red headed spitfire wondering if she was just as fiery in the sack before turning his attention back to Jessica.

He did believe that she was from somewhere else, he had seen some pretty amazing stuff in his career but had never come across this kind of situation before. Her story wouldn't be so believable if she didn't know so much. Even if the background of the story was all crap this girl knew too much. There was the very real possibility that she was a plant from another government somehow designed to infiltrate them. Mulder and Scully's work was not just known to their government. They would be the key to infiltrate.

Either way if she was a plant or actually from another universe, a gateway to an amazing power potentially harness in its own right she was inevitably valuable in every way.

He got himself a coffee and with a sigh reached for the map he had just purchased. He would have to get back on the road soon to get back to Indianapolis before he could stop for the night. He had to make sure that she didn't try to escape again.

She had circled him cautiously, she had obviously known who he was straight away which had slightly disconcerted him even if it didn't surprise him. If she knew a lot about Mulder and Scully it was only logical that she probably knew about him as well. He could see as she had looked him over that he was there for her and who had sent him.

He had watched her move slowly, stepping over the mess on the kitchen floor eyeing him through narrowed eyes and slowly moving towards the sofa area. He had seen her eyes flit to the phone. She obviously figured that Scully had Mulder on speed dial and had hoped that just getting him to answer would let him know of her plight even if he couldn't help her at that particular moment. He had started to move towards her smiling and watching the fear cross her face she had suddenly made a break for the phone. He had decided at that moment to lunge for her knocking her to the floor. As they had gone down she had taken the full brunt of the fall as they had landed on the small coffee table. She had hit her head on the corner and the impact had winded her. He had then put the small cloth soaked in chloroform which had helped take over the edge that she was dangerously close to from the knock to the head.

He had then packed all her belongings into one of the gym bags in the bottom of Scully's wardrobe, closing the door behind him leaving the mess behind and thrown it in the trunk with her and made his way to the motorway.

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"Mulder I don't care what you say that_ felon_ was not trying it on with me. He was just trying to get rise out of you." She exclaimed as he ribbed her about the earlier encounter where a suspect had commented on her nice arse. She had shot him an icy look with one perfect eyebrow raised and had ignored him. Mulder had glared at him openly and looked like he was going to launch himself across the table.

"Well you do have a nice arse Scully," He mused pointedly looking at her behind in the process earning a half hearted slap and an icy look. He grinned as he could see a small smile tug at her lips. She let herself into her apartment and gasped as she saw the smashed remains her living area. Mulders smile disappeared as his eyes swept over the carnage and the mess in the kitchen.

"Jessica," He shouted for her moving to the bedroom, removing his gun from his belt. Scully put down her handbag next to the door also removing her gun and moving towards the bathroom.

"Jessica," She called pushing the door open to the bathroom. The area where Jessica had put her toiletries was empty. Mulder joined her seconds later.

"She's not here and her clothes are gone." He told her with a worried look on his face.

"Yeah her toiletries are gone too. Mulder... who the hell would have taken her and how would they know about her?" She bit her lip her face reflecting the same worry as his.

He exhaled in frustration and put his gun back in the holster, "I have a pretty good idea but the thing that is worrying me the most is that we haven't got the first idea where to start looking for her."

He moved away from her and towards the smashed coffee table. He hunkered down next to the smashed glass and closed his eyes as he spotted a small patch of blood and hair on what had been the edge of the table. She had obviously put up a fight. He thought about all the places that they had been together and figured that it must have been so easy to follow them. Anyone could have been watching them and reporting back to the syndicate or to that black lunged bastard. They had been at the Hoover building, shopping in down town D.C at the grocery store and various clothes shops. He couldn't even begin to know where to start.

Feeling Scully move up next to him standing looking down on the mess he didn't look up, " I promised her that I would look after her and that I would help her get home." He said quietly.

"Mulder, you can't feel guilty about this. I am just as worried about her but we have to get a team in here and see what we can find..." She knew as she said it that it was futile. These men who worked in the shadows were above the law they had encountered that many times.

"I should have been more careful I should have known this would happen." He sighed, " I should have put her into protective custody so that this_ couldn't_ happen." He dreaded to think what they were going to do to her. He doubted that their intentions in taking her were to get her home. He spotted something sparkling in the glass and reached to pick it to up, feeling his knees complain slightly he stood up next to her.

They both stood in silence as he turned over the angel wing charm from her charm bracelet in his hand and felt a sense a dread steal over them when they contemplated what was going to happen to their young ward.

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Dun dun dun! Thanks for the reviews and follows guys we still are only half way through our story - will Jessica ever get home? - Next up some much needed action and more MSR! Next chapter will be up soon x


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own the own anything, Chris Carter and crew rule! Also mentions of Twister, love this film but I don't own any of it or its characters.

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Jessica groggily lifted her head and squeezed her eyes shut fighting against the spinning room and nausea that swept over her. She felt a hand slide into her hair lifting her head skyward and a rough hand grab her chin to turn her face to the side. She clamped her mouth shut praying that she didn't projectile vomit. Her head was fuzzy and there was a persistent banging in her temples. She groaned as the movement shot bolts of pain through her neck and to an area just above her ear.

"Jessica." Krychek's voice sounded tinny and distant.

She slowly opened her eyes trying to focus and saw him standing over her. "Come on Jessica wake up." She realised that his hand was loosely holding her head and she could move her head away from him without too much difficulty. She realised that he was holding her head with his prosthetic arm and it sent chills down her spine.

"Get the hell away from me." She spat with as much venom as she could muster, instantly regretting it as another wave of nausea threatened to overtake her. She closed her eyes again and tried to take long steady breaths. She felt the hands release her and heard him move away from her chuckling softly to himself. She felt him next to her within a couple of seconds and balked slightly as she felt something cold touch her lips but then calmed when she realised that it was glass of water. She lifted her hands to take the glass but suddenly realised that they were handcuffed individually to the arms of a chair. Her feet were individually tied to the each leg of the chair with rope.

"Come on you need to have a drink," He coaxed with the glass and she grudgingly let him give her a drink of water. It was probably the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. She could feel the effect immediately on her senses and the fog that had permeated her brain was starting to lift. She greedily drank spilling some down her chin and slopping it onto her top, and started to choke a little.

He laughed, "Woah easy tiger - take it slow theres plenty to go around." She shot him a dirty look and then continued to drink. Once she had finished she watched him warily as he moved over to the desk to put the glass down, then turn back to her to kneel in front of her. "Better?" He asked with a lopsided smile gently wiping her mouth, chin and throat with a towel.

She gave him a curt nod but continued to eyeball him with distrust. He was very handsome in a conventional way with dark hair and dark green eyes that were hazel in certain lights. She had seen him from the beginning when he had been slick and almost school boy like in his suits when he had first been assigned to Mulder before Scully had been abducted but he had seemed to grow into his bad boy persona as time had progressed. He now had stubble on his defined jaw and his hair which was slightly tousled suited him better than his previous slick side parted hair. He was tall and she could see his well toned body below the black t shirt and jeans. He also smelt like leather, toothpaste and a something like Gillette aftershave.

She had many times argued with her friends as to who was sexier Mulder or Krychek and they had often agreed that Mulder was a clear winner but Krychek had grown on them as they had watched and the series' had progressed.

Right now even though she was fully aware how handsome and downright sexy he was her fear outweighed anything that she may have previously felt before. He was less than two feet away from her on one knee. His leg was touching her bare knee with the slightest of brushes and she could feel the warmth of his skin through his jeans. His smell permeated her senses and her space. She felt like she was sitting across from a snake that was reared and watching her carefully ready to strike. Like a snake, she felt like he could sense her fear.

He continued to watch her in silence with a small smile on his face and she could feel her nerves stretching to breaking point under his stare. She had to break the silence that had spiralled into the room, " What do you want with me?" She asked finally.

His eyes finally broke contact with her and grabbed the chair to place in front of her and sat down. He lent forward his elbows on his thighs and eyed her with interest, "Apparently you are a valuable commodity to my employers Jessica."

She nodded and licked her lips nervously, " I take it you mean 'employers' as in Spender and the Syndicate?" She was buying herself time as she tried to clear her disorientation.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise and nodded, " Yes they are very interested in you. They are very interested in a young girl who has somehow appeared out of nowhere and seems to be very 'knowledgeable' about certain events that have happened in the last 6 years."

"Even more so that she is English and there is no record of her entering the United States."

"Look, Krychek I don't know how much you know about the situation but I am not what they think I am. There is nothing supernatural about me. I am just a regular teenager that happened to be in the wrong place at the very wrong time." She looked at him pleading, "Please let me go,_ please_, _please_ let me go ... all I want to do is go home." Her shoulders slumped tiredly.

" Did it ever occur to you that these people may be able to help you get home? Maybe they can do it where Mulder and Scully can't." He asked her reasonably.

She snorted with disbelief " Yeah right Krychek I'm not fucking stupid. Why would they want to help me?"

He barked a laugh at her sudden outburst. "Well, I think obviously they want something from you first, nothing in life is for free."

"What could I possibly give them?" She asked exasperated, "All the information that I have is out of date! I only know about the past we already established this! What could they gain from information I give them, information that they already probably have from their spies and the bugs they have used over the years?"

"Well maybe it's not that information that is useful to them. Frankly I don't think they really give a shit as to what Mulder and Scully get up to in their spare time and anyone can just break into their office to get access to their files." He told her softly watching for her reaction. They both knew that she was bluffing trying to buy time. He was trying to goad her into admitting her worst fear, that she was going to be a human guinea pig for the shadow government. Not that she wasn't bothered about her own hide but it had occurred to her that these men would use what they learnt from her for their own gain and profit, and in the process could wreak havoc on the world. What would these men do with the power to pass between time and space? She shuddered at the implications. And what her part would be in it willingly or not. What was the price of her getting home?

Krychek smiled at her as she relented and confessed she knew why they would need her. "They want to test me to see how I did it. How I got across. That's what you meant by them sending me back. Are they going to let me go back?"

He shrugged. "I think that they are interested in seeing if the event can be duplicated and utilised for their benefit. They obviously won't let you go until they are satisfied."

Jessica felt tears starting to well in her eyes as she realised that at this moment the likelihood of her getting back to her family had suddenly dropped to zero.

She looked away from her captor and let her eyes wonder around the motel room willing her tears not to spill. As motel rooms went it was quite airy and bright.

It was sparsely furnished with only a wooden double bed, matching nightstands on either side and an inbuilt wardrobe. The chair that she was tied to and its partner that Krychek was sitting on was part of the desk set which also housed a small television. The walls were magnolia and the curtains matched the deep royal blue carpet. Everything although not new was clean and well maintained. She had a vague inclination that this motel was run by a woman who seemed to have the work ethic that her guests should feel like they are staying in an extension of her own home.

She turned back to Krychek who had been watching her, " Where are we?"

He looked at her suspiciously but seemed to sense that she had lost her last reserves of fight. She seemed to have reluctantly accepted the fact that she was not going to go home and would likely die in whatever experiments they needed to conduct. He felt sorry for her. She was only young and as she had said just been in the wrong place. "We're just outside of Indianapolis."

"And we're going to...?"

"Nevada. I have had to transport you via car because we don't want to draw too much attention to you being here. "

She nodded blankly to this piece of information although he wasn't sure whether she had understood the reasons why this had been necessary. The request for her capture had been at CSM's instructions and he had a feeling that the Syndicate had not been informed yet about Jessica. Unmarked and discreet travel had been preferred to his usual method of military transport to avoid any potential leak to the Syndicate about his plans for this girl. His intention was obviously to use her for his own research and means first then he would disclose his information to them in his own time possibly using the information he gleaned in the form of bargaining chip.

This was why he had hired Krychek to move Jessica and had paid a substantial amount for the babysitting duty. She seemed to have ran out of steam a little and was looking a little groggy again.

"Are you hungry?"

She looked up at him and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah a little bit. What time is it?"

He glanced down at his watch and wasn't surprised when he saw that it was after 10 o'clock. "Just after 10."

"Oh my god. How long were we on the road for?" She vaguely remembered looking at the clock before he had kidnapped her and it had only been after 10 am.

"Just under 10 hours. You were passed out in the trunk for the length of the journey." She looked at him sharply but didn't comment.

"So what are you thinking about food? You can't exactly stroll into a dinner and wheel me in like this." She asked indicating to her bound form.

He smiled in agreement. " Ok I'll get a takeaway. Pizza?"

"Yeah Pizza sounds good. The only thing I don't eat is anchovies." She pulled a face at the thought.

"Yeah I don't like anchovies either - how about Hawaiian?" He reached for the local phone book and looked for a pizza delivery place. She seemed to have perked up at the thought of food. She must have been starving as she had obviously been making her breakfast that morning when he had taken her.

He found a local delivery and ordered for them. He wondered at that logistics of making sure she didn't scream for help when the delivery guy came to the door. He instructed them to deliver it to the main reception and then arranged for them to call him when it arrived.

Twenty minutes later she was sat at the desk still bound to the chair eating her pizza. He had moved her there and un cuffed one of her wrists to allow her to eat her food. She was hungrier than she had thought. The television was on and they were watching the news in almost companionable silence. She had taken the opportunity whilst he was at the reception getting their food to try to scout out the bathroom. She had shuffled herself and stood up awkwardly to try to peer into the dark bathroom. She could just make out the small window above the toilet. She hoped for her plan to work that they were on the ground floor. The last thing she wanted was for the room to be on the first floor and for her to break something trying to escape.

Her attention was suddenly caught by the newscaster announcing that there had been another tornado in Holton, Kansas. The picture cut to a very windswept reporter in the middle of what looked like a large car park of a dinner. He was shouting to make himself heard over the din of noises and the howling wind. The air around him seemed to be dark even though the report had obviously been done earlier that day.

She gasped at the wreckage behind him and watched as in the background a group of men were trying to separate two very large pick up trucks which seemed to have meshed into each other with the force of what had hit them. A smaller car was less than 10 feet away almost cut in half by an uprooted tree sitting across the middle of it. The camera panned across the car park taking in the extent of the damage and settled on a shot far away of a black broiling sky.

"... it is believed that an F3 tornado landed less than 100 feet from this dinner here in usually sunny Holton less than 2 hours ago." His hand swept across the expanse behind him, "As you can see the extent of the damage caused will still have to be calculated but luckily today no one was killed. There are reports that 3 people have been moved to the local hospital sporting minor injuries and are hoping to make a full recovery. As for whether this is the end of a trend of tornados that have plagued this part of the county since Saturday only nature can decide but the locals are keeping a wary eye on the horizon."

The screen cut back to the newscaster in the studio promising more on the story as it developed. Jessica let her mind wonder again as the newscaster moved on to mundane topics like the stock market and she found herself thinking about the film Twister. It was a film that she had gone to the cinema with her friends to watch when it had come out but really only at the insistence of Rob who had been determined that he wasn't going to sit through a 'chick flick'. Even though she had had reservations initially she had ended up enjoying it.

A crazy idea had started to form in her head as she remembered the last couple of scenes of the movie. What if she was able to get herself home by being struck by lightning again? What if she was able to get into the eye of the storm where she knew there was lightning? She couldn't spend her life chasing storms in the hope that she would be struck again. She had to take the chance but how the hell was she going to pull it off? She set her jaw and took a deep breath. First thing was first, she had to get away from Krychek.

"Krychek? Could I use the bathroom and maybe have a shower?" She asked meekly. "I feel a bit grimy and god knows what was in your trunk but its all I can smell on myself."

He looked down at her strapped to the chair. She had picked up a little after the food but still seemed a little disorientated from the knock she had received to the head and the chloroform he had used. She watched as he walked to the bedside table and retrieved his gun. He then got the key out of his back pocket and handed it to her. He kept his gun trained on her and watched her remove the handcuff and leg binds.

She stood and swayed on the spot trying to steady herself before moving to the bathroom. It was quite a large bathroom with a shower stall, corner bath, toilet and sink unit. It was white tiled from floor to ceiling and she couldn't help admiring how clean it was. She could feel his presence at the door with the gun still on her. She had quickly glanced at the window as she had entered and figured that she could get to it by standing on the toilet. As she had suspected it was only a small half window but she was sure that she would fit though.

She looked over at him with her eyebrows raised as he loitered at the door with the gun at his side. "Please can I have some privacy?"

"I will be at the door listening." He told her menacingly," I have no problems in shooting you in the knee. You only have to get there alive."

She tried to look as non perturbed as possible and rolled her eyes as she stepped forward and closed the door but couldn't bring her eyes to his face.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own the X Files - _Sigh -_ If only I did - I would take over the world mwah ha ha!

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Jessica took a deep shaky breath and tried to steady her hammering heart as she thought about what she was about to do. So far he had been tame with her and she figured that it wouldn't last long if she got caught trying to escape. She thought about her options. Once she was away from him she would have to run for the most populated place she could find and beg someone to help her. She decided that the main reception was most likely to be her best bet. She doubted very much that he had carried her in on his shoulder and asked for a room. Once he had checked in he must have parked his car close to the room and snuck her in.

She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she also tried think about how she was going to get to Kansas. She had seen her bag earlier by the door which meant it likely had her purse and the small pile of clothes that she had accumulated in the last couple of days. She wasn't going to get very far. She wasn't even wearing shoes.

She sighed heavily as she came the conclusion that it would make more sense for her to try to escape in the middle of the night. He was expecting her to try to escape now - he knew she was going to try. He was geared to burst in on her. He looked tired which wasn't surprising if he had been driving for the majority of the day. She hoped that it would work in her favour.

Maybe he would let her get up to go to the bathroom again in the middle of the night when he was a little more disorientated and she would be able to slip out of the bathroom window with at least a small head start.

She sat down on the toilet self consciously eyeing the door and expecting him to burst in any second. She finally managed to pee much to her relief and flushed the toilet. She then stepped up to the shower and turned it on. She took her hair out of the loose ponytail that she had put back earlier that morning and piled her hair on top of her head securing it tightly. She removed her jewellery and undressed. Standing in her underwear she checked the heat of the water and was about to remove her bra when Krychek burst into the bathroom.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" She shouted at him trying to cover as much of herself with her hands. He was surprised that she was still standing there. He had been expecting her to make an attempt to escape. He took a deep breath secretly relieved that he didn't have to chase her. He was just too tired for another scrap. He nodded at her and turned on his heel closing the door behind him.

She smiled smugly to herself as she congratulated herself on making the right decision.

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Dressed in the terry cloth robe that she had found on the back of the bathroom door she walked back into the bedroom to find Krychek lying on the bed still fully dressed. The gun was lying casually on his thigh.

"I need my night clothes." She told him quietly pointing to the small bag next to the door. He watched her move over to the bag hunker down and rifle through it looking for the PJ's that Scully had bought her the other day. Shyly, she moved back to bathroom with her clothes and toothbrush.

She jumped when she realised that he was standing by the bathroom door as she re entered the bedroom. He was holding both sets of handcuffs in his hands and silently pointed to the bed. She looked at the bed uncertainly and tried to steel herself before he had a chance to see the fear flit across his face.

"I want you to handcuff yourself to the bars. I don't trust you not to try to escape but the alternative is binding you to the chair for the night." He indicated the hard wooden chair she had been a prisoner to earlier. "There is no reason why we both can't get a good night sleep." He shrugged as if to show that he didn't care either way that it was her choice.

She took the handcuffs and walked over to the bed. She positioned the pillows against the frame and pulled back the covers. She knew that it was likely that she would have to sleep either with her hands above her head or sitting up so that she didn't lose all feeling in her arms. Once comfortable she attached each handcuff to a wrist and then to the bed frame. He stood over her with the gun in his hand and then rattled her wrists to make sure that they were secure. He nodded satisfied and putting the gun down on his bedside table, grabbing his sweats from his bag he proceeded to get undressed.

She quickly averted her eyes feeling a blush creep up her face as he stripped his shirt and exposed his flat toned stomach. She had briefly seen his prosthetic arm that had been strapped under his armpit and across the top of his chest to the other side of his neck. She ducked her head down glad that she had let her hair down after her shower so it fell in a curtain against her face to hide her discomfort.

He stopped and looked at her. "Do you want me to undress in the bathroom?" He asked with an amused grin. She simply nodded without looking at him.

She was relieved when he re emerged a couple of minutes later dressed in his long trousers and a t-shirt. He was still wearing his socks. She was once again surprised how strange it was that they were sharing such an intimate situation and how surreal it was. He had removed his prosthetic arm and put it carefully on top of his bag.

"I have heard what you told Mulder and Scully about the past 6 years. I take it you know about me as well?"

Although she wasn't surprised that he knew about her conversations with Mulder and Scully it seemed that Krychek had confirmed that the agents were being watched. She wondered how many private conversations they had shared and how many people had been privy to them.

"Well no not as much." She told him honestly, " Only in relation to what has happened to them."

"I know that you are Russian American and the son of cold war immigrants. You were originally brought in as a spy and partnered with Mulder. You are a mercenary that takes sides as you see fit and when it suits you. And that you lost your arm after escaping a slave labour camp in Russia when you ran into some of your compatriots who thought they were doing you a favour." She nodded to his left arm as she managed to supress a shudder at the thought of someone hacking a limb off with nothing but a small knife. She tried to keep her eyes away from the obvious space where his arm should be.

He nodded in acknowledgement at her basic assessment of him. "Yeah that pretty much sums it up."

"And you are keeping with this story that we are all part of some tv show and that's how you know so much about us?"

"How else would you explain it?" She asked impatiently, "Somehow I doubt that if this was some form of covert conspiracy by the British Government to infiltrate the American Government they would hardly rely on a 16 year old school girl!"

"Ok... I'll play along. Do I have a lot of fans?"

"I think you have quite a large gay fan base." She told him slyly.

"Gay fan base?" He looked at her incredulously.

"Well yeah I mean there has always been a question mark over you and Mulder being gay." She was trying to hold back the laughter at the look on his face." Come on Krychek you are sooo pretty. I think its the long eyelashes." She told him innocently.

His eyes narrowed at her and for a second she felt like she may have pushed him too far.

He watched the laughter falter in her eyes a little as she took in his features. She started to blush again and she ducked her head resting it against the bed frame.

He reached over, his hand snaked up into her soft hair and held her head still. He leant in and gently placed his lips onto her soft plump mouth. He could feel her surprise as she sat rigidly still with her eyes wide open. A surge of emotions flew through her as he gently kissed her, her initial fear and outrage gave way as her traitorous body responded consuming every thought and allowed the sensation to overflow. Her body relaxed and her eyes fluttered shut.

This was not her first kiss. She was still a virgin having not met the right guy yet. She had no illusions about a perfect boyfriend but she hoped that when she did finally give up her virginity that it would be to someone that she loved and trusted. She had recently started to hope that it was Rob who would be her first. She had not told Mulder and Scully the truth when she had said that they were just best friends. He had kissed her on the way home from the nightclub a couple of weeks ago. He had then bade her goodnight before sauntering off down the road. Their friendship had definitely turned up notch as they had kissed and touched more often but hadn't let it go any further yet.

The other guys that she had dated before him had all been her age and she had found that the kisses had ranged from chaste to just plain disgusting and wet. As a result, each encounter had ended with the potential of the next date petering out.

Jessica couldn't believe that her body was responding to this kiss the way it did to Rob's. She felt as if her stomach was full of butterflies, that her heart would give out if it didn't stop the galloping pace that it had set and that every nerve in her body was standing to attention. Her chest and cheeks were flushed as he deepened the kiss his tongue touched her lips and she obligingly opened her mouth to allow him access. She inadvertently let out a breathy whimper against his mouth as his hand travelled down her hair and along the outside of her body brushing against the soft skin and resting on her small waist. She could feel the warmth of his hand through the cotton top she was wearing.

After what felt like only seconds he pulled away from her and watched her opened her eyes. She could not look at him and he could see the blush creep across her cheeks again. He put his finger under her chin and lifted her face to look at him.

"Do you still think that I am gay?" He asked with a cocky lopsided grin.

She shook her head as she swallowed hard. Her eyes were glazed over a little and her mouth was very dry.

"Jessica if you were maybe a couple of years older I wouldn't have stopped myself but you are young and this shouldn't be your first experience." He whispered softly as she nodded eagerly.

She was glad that he hadn't pushed her into it although her body had responded so keenly. She felt as if she had had another blow to the head as her mind tried to clear itself. She would have regretted it with absolute certainty had this man taken advantage of her vulnerability.

She was once again surprised at his actions. What she had said earlier was very true. She really didn't know much about him.

"Thank you." She mumbled. She looked up at him shyly, "I'm really tired."

He gave her an understanding nod and turned the tv off in the corner. She snuggled down as comfortably as she could with the handcuffs on and settled herself down to sleep.

She almost felt sorry for what she was planning on doing later to him but she knew that she had to get out of there at any cost.

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He watched her settle herself down the bed until her arms were resting slightly above her head and her wrists were relaxed as loosely as they could be on the pillow next to her face. She sighed as her breath regulated back to a steady rhythm and closed her eyes wearily. He rolled onto his back and relaxed against the pillows feeling a wave of tiredness overwhelm his body. His body was starting to return back to neutral after the kiss that he had started and almost reluctantly finished.

He had meant to simply tease her after her jibe but had found as he had kissed her soft plump lips that he had had a more powerful reaction than he had expected. It had only been last week that he had shacked up for the weekend with a blond bombshell that he had picked up in a bar in New York so he wasn't exactly sex deprived. He had been mildly surprised this morning when he had met her that she was a lot prettier and more mature than she was portrayed in her school portrait.

He had guessed she was still a virgin although her kiss definitely had foretold potential but she struck him as the type of girl that would save herself for a steady boyfriend rather than a quick fumble in the back of car. He figured it probably wasn't for lack of trying from the male population in her school. She was obviously just picky. Or already taken.

He yawned widely and inadvertently took a deep breath. He could smell the coconut from her long hair and the creamy soap on her soft warm skin. He could also smell the mint toothpaste he had tasted just minutes before.

He smiled ruefully as he thought about her standing by the shower in just her plain black underwear and the look of outrage on her pretty face. His eyes had raked over her full figure and small flat stomach. She had long toned legs that seemed to go on forever. He felt his breath hitch slightly as he thought of the small glittering bar at her dipped navel which was just so unintentionally sensuous. If she had been older and a little less innocent he would have gladly spent all night exploring that area with just his tongue.

He cleared his throat loudly as the effects of his thoughts caused a physical reaction. Trying to push away the impure thoughts about the girl next to him he determinedly thought about his young cousin Mira who was about the same age and how he would feel if some guy was thinking about her that way. He set his jaw as a wave of anger hit him and it successfully dissipated any sexual thoughts. As he felt another bout of tiredness sweep over him he let his mind go blank and finally succumbed to sleep.

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Jessica woke with a start as she heard a light snore just to the left of her. Her widened eyes became accustomed to the pre dawn light that filtered through the tops and sides of the curtains and she berated herself as she realised that she had dropped off to sleep. She had almost ruined her escape plan. She lifted her head gently trying not to disturb him to look at the small travel clock next to his gun. The luminescent dial told her it was only 04.53. She sighed with relief and decided to put her plan into action. She closed her eyes briefly sending up a silent prayer and steeled herself for what was going to be a tough fight.

"Krychek. Krychek." She whispered nudging his leg with her foot. He groggily opened his eyes and turned around to look at her through tired slits.

"Mmm... What?"

"I really need to go to the bathroom." She whispered.

"Hold it." He told her grumpily and yawning felt himself dropping off again.

_"Pleeease._ I really need to go. I think the food disagreed with me. I have a really bad stomach ache." She implored urgently. Krychek huffed loudly and rolled back to the bedside table to grab the key to the handcuffs. He handed her the key and lazily reached for the gun.

Jessica saw the opportunity she had been waiting for and un cuffed one of her hands quickly. Just as he was turning back she grabbed his wrist knocking the gun out of his hand and launched herself so that she straddled him pinning her leg against the stump of his left arm. She was hindered by her other hand still being cuffed against the bar but luckily the bed hadn't been more than a double so there wasn't much room to manoeuvre. She threw her weight on him and struggled to push his arm down against the pillow edging it closer to the handcuff attached to the bar. She grunted with frustration as she could feel his hips starting to buck against her trying to throw her off of him.

Finally with one last push she slammed his hand against the bar and moving his hand to the open cuff with surge of relief heard the metal click into place over his wrist. She quickly launched back off of him to her side of the bed as he swung his legs to stand on the opposite side of the bed. She stood looking at him as he stared at her with rage stamped across his handsome flushed face. They were both standing as straight as they could each still attached to the bed frame by one wrist, their breath ragged with exertion.

She had had the presence of mind to hold the key in her other hand tightly as she had wrestled him. She took a long shaky breath and quickly reached for the gun which had fallen off the edge off her side of the bed in the fight, her eyes never leaving his. She placed it on her bedside table and cautiously leant over her other wrist putting the key in her free hand and un cuffing the other handcuff. Freeing her wrist she rubbed it gingerly rolling her eyes at the thought of yet another part of her body being bruised.

She picked up the gun and shakily pointed it at him." Sit on the bed." She demanded. He stared at her for a minute weighing his options and realise that he had none. He looked down at the stump of his left arm and closed his eyes in frustration. She had managed to completely incapacitate him. He grudgingly sat on the bed.

Keeping the gun trained on him the whole time she walked over to the door and grabbed her bag. She quickly moved her stuff to the bathroom and placed the gun, handcuff key and bag on the small bathroom unit. He watched her as she picked up his bag, prosthetic arm and deciding to unplug the phone she moved it all to the bathroom.

"Just in case you get any ideas." She explained to him quietly, making sure the bedroom door was locked and taking the key with her. He didn't react, he simply sat on the bed watching her through narrowed eyes.

"I'm going for a shower," She stood at the bathroom door and as she closed it she told him, " If you move I will shoot you in the knees."

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Jessica leant back against the door feeling waves of relief engulf her. She almost started crying as the adrenaline seeped from her and she could feel her body started to shake all over as the ache set in again. A super hot shower was definitely what she needed.

She started to remove her pj's and jewellery after turning the shower on. Her heart stilled for a second when she realised that she was missing a charm on her bracelet. It was the angel wings that Rob had given her for her sixteenth birthday. She felt a lump form in her throat and furiously blinked back her tears, she _was_ going to get home or die trying. Either way she had to find out.

She showered for as long as she dared. As she washed her hair she tried to think how best to get to Holton. She racked her brain trying to think what the name of the dinner she had seen in the news trailer last night. Something like _Martine's_ or _Marty's._ She knew it started with an M. She would go to the reception and find out how to get there. She knew it was a couple of states over which were like the size of countries in their own way. Flying was well out of the question with no passport or American id so she would have to get a train on one or one of the famous _greyhound_ buses that she had seen countless times in the movies. She also needed money to get there she doubted it would be cheap. She decided that she would rifle through Krychek's wallet. She still had about thirty dollars left from what Mulder had given her and she had been sure that Krychek had a wad of cash that he had taken twenty dollars from to pay for the pizza last night. Finally having a semblance of a plan she finished her shower and got out.

She quickly got dressed in her black jeans and one of her black t shirts. She decided to wear her glittery red shoes in honour of the occasion. She smirked as she remembered the look on Mulder's face as he had held them up to her. She was really going to miss her new friends. She brushed her wet hair out and decided to let it dry naturally. After moisturising she decided to put on a lick of mascara and lip gloss. She figured it wouldn't matter later today that her hair would be wild and entangled. She would either be at home or ... her stomach gave a nervous lurch, she didn't want to think about the alternative. It made her feel better though at least if she was found dead she would be relatively presentable.

She picked up the gun and gingerly stepped into the other room her body ready to fight again if need be. He was relaxed on the bed with his legs crossed at the ankles.

"Nice shoes." He commented smirking at the glittering red pumps.

"Mulder got them for me. He thought they were fitting for my erm ... situation. He obviously didn't realise how much." She smiled back.

She grabbed her purse and the phone from the bathroom. She plugged the phone back in and the dialled the mobile number on the card Mulder had given her the other day. The phone rang twice before he answered.

"Mulder," He snapped down the phone. He sounded worried.

"Mulder it's Jessica." She replied trying to sound calm.

"Jessica!" He almost shouted down the phone, the relief in his voice was palpable. She could hear people in the background react to her name, he was obviously in some kind of office. She could hear Scully exclaim, "Thank God."

"Are you ok?" He asked urgently.

"I'm fine Mulder don't worry I'm ok."

"Where are you Jessica? Do you know where you are? I will come and get you." He told her urgently.

She took a deep breath, " Mulder I can't tell you." Krychek's head snapped up and his eyes narrowed as he processed this information. He had expected her to sit tight and wait for the cavalry to arrive. He had also expected to get his arse to be kicked by Mulder when he found him there with her.

She heard his breath hitch slightly, "Jessic-"

"No listen, Mulder I appreciate everything that you guys have done for me but I think I have found a way home and I have to do this alone. I don't think you would let me do what I have to do if you were here." She bit her lip hard as she felt the tears prick at her eyes, " Thanks for all your help. I'll really miss you guys." She whispered feeling a sob catch in her throat as she hung up she heard him yell her name desperately down the phone.

She kept her face turned away from Krychek as she unplugged the phone again and took it back into the bathroom. She quickly wiped her eyes and grabbing her stuff brought it back to the bedroom leaving all of his stuff including the gun and handcuff key still in there. She figured that if he did manage to drag the bed over he wouldn't be able to get into the bathroom through the door.

"You know that he's going to trace that call here." He told her.

"Yeah I know," she replied with a sigh, "but I will be long gone before they get here." Krychek nodded slowly.

"I took two hundred dollars out of your wallet." She confessed. "I'm going to need it to get where I have to go and I think you owe me big time after this." She indicated to her bruised head and wrist before continuing, "I noticed that you had no cards or id in your wallet. So you are a ghost."

"Yeah well it's part of the job." He told her unflinching.

"Doesn't it scare you that you could die and no one would know?" She asked him feeling the same lurch of pity she had felt earlier as she had flicked through the near empty wallet. "A John Doe in every respect."

"Don't feel pity for me Jessica, I choose the life I lead. I choose to be a ghost." He said coldly shaking his head.

She nodded not quite convinced. She was determined that she wasn't going to be a ghost anymore.

"You're going to go after the tornado aren't you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

She nodded and laughed shakily.

"You're going to die." He told her simply.

She stood up, picking up her bag and made her way over to the door. "Yeah well we both know it's better than being a ghost." She told him with a sad smile.

"I underestimated you Jessica." He told her softly.

She nodded looking at him one last time," And I misjudged you Alex." She ducked her head and stepped out of the door closing it quietly behind her.


	12. Chapter 12

Jessica walked across the large car park towards the reception and noted that all the rooms were like little separate chalets. The surrounding greenery was well kept and maintained like the outside and inside of each room. There was no peeling paint, no rubbish on the floor. Everything was immaculate. It really was a little gem of a place. Looking up on the other side of the main road she saw dense forest which simply added to the local beauty.

Stepping into the small reception area she was greeted by a pleasant looking woman in her fifties standing behind a polished reception desk. She figured this was the owner who she had thought highly of after reviewing the room the night before. She had confirmed her suspicions. She was friendly and welcoming.

"Good morning Sugar. How can I help you?" She greeted warmly her blue eyes crinkling as she smiled.

"Good morning, " she reciprocated the warm smile. " I need some information on how to get to your local train station or bus station," She shrugged, " I'm not bothered which one."

"Sure no problem. We're not too far from town at the moment it's about a fifteen minute walk or I could call you a taxi if you like?" She offered.

"Oh that's lovely of you thank you but it's such a beautiful day and such a beautiful area," she waved her hand to outside the window to the wooded area that lay just outside the large parking lot, " I think I will take a stroll into town if you could point me in the right direction." She was touched by this woman's kindness, she could tell it was genuine.

The woman nodded smiling, "Of course it's a really nice walk in. You just turn left once you have come out of the entrance follow the road down until you get to a crossroads and turn right. Follow that road and you will enter the outskirts of town. The train station is not far from there. The bus station is a little further into town but its signposted all the way."

"Thank you so much for your help. Could I possibly impose on you a little further and ask a favour?" She asked sweetly her English accent very pronounced. The lady looked at her enquiringly. Jessica was a little unsure how to proceed not wanting this lady to think that she was some kind of hooker if she told her which room she had just stepped out from especially as she had not been there at when he had booked it.

"I have just come from room 211." She saw the woman's smile falter slightly as she took the teenager in, looking down at the small gym bag quickly. She decided to bend the truth a little to quell the woman's suspicion slightly.

She tried to look as innocent as possible relying on the baby faced look that she often used on her dad ," My brother, well half brother, checked in last night and I arrived a little later. Bless him he slept on the floor but he has an important meeting this morning and he notoriously sleeps through his alarm and phone ringing," She rolled her eyes for effect, " I didn't have the heart to wake him. I was wondering if you could give him a wake up knock in about an hour? I need to get out of here I have a place I have to be by this afternoon and I can't afford to miss it. I'm going home." She smiled sweetly and the woman's suspicion dissipated.

Jessica had thought long and hard about leaving Krychek where he was. It would be pay back for Mulder and Scully to finally have him in their clutches so disarmed, excuse the pun, but her heart could not let her follow through on it. She knew that Mulder would beat him to within an inch of his life and they would never be able to get any sort of justice on him the men he worked for would make sure that he disappeared. Even though he had kidnapped her he was only doing his job and her soft heart fluttered slightly as she thought about his kiss and the fact that he had had her in the most vulnerable position that she had ever been in. And hadn't acted on it although she had felt his arousal.

"Of course hun no problem I will knock on his door." She assured her.

"Thank you so much again. I have to say it has been lovely staying here, you run a beautiful establishment." She told her sincerely and the woman beamed at her for the compliment.

"You have a safe trip and a nice day," The lady said to her as she said her goodbyes.

" You too," She left without a moments pause and headed towards the motel entrance.

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As soon as she closed the door Krychek swung around on the bed and braced his feet against the bed frame that kept him pinned down. He gritted his teeth, and began to kick with all the force he could muster from his toned legs in the awkward position. He grunted through the pain, he felt in his wrist as the bars reverberated down his right arm through the pinching metal cuff. The thought of finally catching up with her and dragging her into his car was motivation enough to ignore the protesting ache in his barely covered feet.

She had humiliated him. He had been weak with her and misunderstood her compliance thinking that she had given into him. He had also felt her conflict when he had kissed her. She had fought against it but he sensed and felt her sixteen year old hormones kick in in response. If he had pushed her into it she would have complied and probably enjoyed it but he had felt that she would regret it for the rest of her life. Embarrassingly, he had felt a small flicker of remorse at the thought of her trying to deal with the repercussions and for once allowed his feelings rule over his thoughts. The fact that she had managed to incapacitate him had been through luck and some stone cold resilience that he had made the mistake of overlooking in the face of her meekness and youth. He hadn't gauged the situation properly and was now royally fucked off at this momentary weakness.

He wouldn't make that mistake again. He was going to punish her tonight. He was going to handcuff her to the bed, naked and take his frustration out on her all night long. He was going to make her scream and beg, make her come, take his time and relish every touch of her lithe, strong body. He was going to fuck her into submission until she didn't have the strength to stand up let alone try to escape again. He was going to tell her what he is planning on doing, knowing that she would fear that more than a couple of black eyes or a broken nose, he thought maliciously.

Finally, after a couple of minutes of continuous pounding he felt relief as he watch the bar splinter. One last well aimed kick freed him from the wooden prison and he lay back for a couple of seconds against the cool sheets circling his wrist wincing a little at the bruising. He swung his legs over the now broken bed and steadying himself briefly, he headed to the bathroom. He figured at most he had a couple of minutes until the owner came banging on the door, probably armed with a shotgun, in response to the plea for help that was inevitably happening now in the reception area.

He took a minute to locate all his things, quickly stripped his clothes and reattached his prosthetic arm. He looked down at the gun and noted that the safety was still on. The whole time she had been pointing it at him he had seen that it was still engaged. He hadn't said anything. Whilst she was showering he had once again scowled in frustration at the stump of his left arm and cursed the men who had hacked it off. He had continued his work deciding to not let him affect his life and refused to consider himself disabled but he had never been in a situation in which it could disadvantage him to the point of being out smarted by a teenager. He had gritted his teeth and decided to act submissively until she was gone resolving to catch up with her and not underestimate her desperation to get home.

Slipping his car keys out of the front pocket of his bag, and grabbing the gun and luggage he moved quickly to the door. Due to the necessity of moving her last night inconspicuously from the trunk he had parked it right in front of his door. He thanked whatever Gods were smiling down on him for this small fortune. It would mean he could get away quickly. He opened it cautiously, the arm with his gun slightly held back behind his right arm and glanced over at the reception area.

The owner was standing behind the desk chatting on the phone. He could see from where he was standing that she was laughing animatedly at something the caller was telling her, flicking her golden hair back almost in a flirty manner, completely relaxed. He watched in disbelief as she started to twirl the telephone cord around her finger as she listened with a smile on her face. There was no distress, no urgency to her movements. Jessica had had plenty of time to approach her and request help whilst he had fought to escape. He had expected her to be on the phone frantically calling the local police to advise them that there was a criminal staying in one of her rooms. Or marching over to the room to confront him with a shotgun.

Jessica must not have told her. He frowned as he thought about the earlier conversation with Mulder and her refusal to tell him where she was and where she was going. He came to the conclusion that she would have been held back by the woman had she been told about the situation. Followed by instructions from Mulder and Scully to keep her there. She was determined to get to Kansas and no one was going to stop her. He chuckled softly, _she's one tough little cookie_. She knows she may die and is still prepared to face it.

He stood indecisively on the small step to his room and tried to decide what the best course of action was. His anger at her was temporarily forgotten as he thought over his options. If the woman didn't know about the situation then he would be able to pick Jessica up without people tailing him. He would have to dump the unregistered car though and switch it soon as the local police would soon be apprised and start looking for it. Despite her earlier confidence that Mulder and Scully wouldn't be able to find her from this place once they traced the call it would only be a matter of time that the car would be followed.

He opened the car, and throwing the bag and gun into the passenger seat closed it again keeping a wary eye on the owner. She truly believed that the tornado was her way home but he was just as sure that if she followed through on her plan, if she stood and faced it she was going to die. He could chase after her and place her into the hands of his bosses but then she would be forever condemned to the life of a test subject which he now and then felt a twinge of pity for them despite his hard exterior. He had been privy to the desperation that they felt when he had been imprisoned in the work camp a couple of years ago. Maybe he had been lucky to escape with his life despite the loss of his arm. How much had he prayed in desperation to get home despite being in his native country? He had no loyalty to the black lunged bastard, she had been right he was a mercenary through and through choosing jobs and sides whenever it suited him. He smiled slightly at the thought of denying his old boss the prize he coveted.

He felt his anger at her dissipate and debated returning her favour for making sure he didn't get caught. She could have left him to the wolves, Mulder and Scully would have loved to get their hands on him especially Mulder. It did seem a shame that she was going to die in her endeavours. Finally, making the reluctant decision to help her he returned quickly to the room and scribbled a note propping it up to next to the T.V.

Once in his car he made his way to the entrance of the motel and looked down the road to his left towards the large town. He could just make her out quickly walking down the road, her shoes sparkling slightly in the morning sunshine, her dark hair floating behind her drying into long curls. He could easily pick her up, send Mulder and Scully on a wild goose chase but the temptation died as soon as it came. He had pretended to not care about her observations about him being a ghost. He had mistaken her question for pity but realised that she simply empathised with him. They were both ghosts but at least he had some choice in what he did. She had decided to take her own future in her hands regardless of the consequences and he had a grudging respect for that.

He smiled crookedly and shook his head at allowing this girl to break his so newly formed resolutions about not allowing his emotions to rule his head.

"Good Luck Kid, you're gonna need it." He whispered quietly to the ever diminishing figure in the distance.

He placed the sunglasses on his nose and checking for traffic, turned right, heading back to D.C.

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Thirty minutes later Joanne Murphy was watching with apprehension as Hal Waters, the local sheriff, pounded his slim hand on the door of room 211.

"Open up!" He shouted. They listened for a minute trying to hear for any noises but didn't expect any. The car that had been registered to the room was not in the parking lot when they had checked.

His deputy had received a call from an FBI agent called Agent Scully to instruct him to attend Joanne's hotel, the _Lake View_ to try to apprehend a dangerous criminal who had kidnapped a sixteen year old tourist. She had received a call about the same time from an agent Mulder imploring her for information on Jessica. She had explained her earlier conversation with the girl that fit his description perfectly and that she had already left. She had reassured him that she looked unhurt and was calm and collected when she had had this conversation. He told her not to approach the room that local law enforcement was being dispatched.

Hal nodded to her and she opened the door with spare key. She gasped as she looked over what remained of the bed. The headboard was smashed to pieces and as they walked into the room and checked the bathroom they noted that there were no personal belongings in the room. Her eyes fell on an envelope sitting neatly propped up on the desk next to the TV and to the room keys next to it.

"Hal," She motioned to the desk and his eyes followed hers to the envelope. He re holstered his gun and picking up the envelope read the two names on the front of it. It was addressed to Agent's Mulder and Scully. He took out his mobile from his pocket with the piece of paper that his deputy had scrawled the contact number on for the agents and dialled.

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The phone in their office rang only once when Mulder pounced on it closely followed by Scully. "Mulder."

"Agent Mulder. It's Hal Waters."

"Sheriff did you find her?" He asked brusquely cutting straight to what he wanted to know. He felt Scully's hand on his arm calming him and leant down his head with the phone between them so that she could hear the conversation.

"No not yet the room is slightly trashed but there is no sign of her or the man that kidnapped her." He told him regretfully, " However there is an envelope on the desk addressed to you."

Mulder and Scully looked at each other quickly, "Please open it." Mulder instructed trying to keep the impatience out of his voice. He could hear the paper tearing.

"It just says "Holton, Kansas." He quickly looked over at Joanne as she gasped and her hand flew to her mouth.

"Why would she go to Holton?" Scully whispered. Mulder looked at her with a sinking feeling. He heard Hal ask Joanne what was wrong and they both blanched as they heard her tinny reply in the background.

"That's where all the tornados have been."

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Jessica sat in the passenger seat of the small fiesta listening to the cute guy that had picked her up on the road about ten minutes after she had left the motel. She had decided to see if she could hitch hike into the main town. She had tentatively stuck her thumb out and although the first couple of cars had ignored her she had watched as his battered red fiesta had pulled up alongside of her.

"Hey," He had called to her leaning out of his window, " Where you going?"

"A town called Holton in Kansas." She replied truthfully.

"Hey that's a coincidence," He had told her smoothly looking her up and down, and smiling, " I am on my way to Wichita. Wanna ride? It's a long drive and I sure could use the company." She had smiled brightly at him and nodding stepped around to the passenger side.

She turned her attention back to him, " So you want to be doctor?" She asked having listened to him telling her about his University and his life back at home. He had introduced himself as James Calvery and he had just turned twenty one. He was cute but not her type. He was shorter than her, about 5'7 and wiry, with messy soft brown curls and had blue eyes behind the black rimmed glasses that didn't seem to miss anything. He was dressed comfortably in jeans, trainers and a black 'University of Kansas' hoodie. He was on the way back for his exams after having spent a week visiting his family and friends for his birthday. His campus was based at Wichita and he was studying at the Medical facility.

"Yeah hopefully one day. I'm in my third year at the moment. It will be another couple of years before I can practise though. I want to specialise in orthopaedics." He answered with a small smile glancing over at her. She was nice looking but young. She had been flirting with him unabashedly for the last hour and he was enjoying the company. It was usually a lonely and very long journey.

"So I have been talking about myself for the last hour what about you? What are you doing in the _Americas_? He asked in a poor imitation her accent.

She giggled and rolled her eyes, " Yeah I'm from England. I landed in D.C on Saturday. I have been staying with ... some family friends." She lied smoothly. He glanced at her hearing the slight hesitation in her voice but decided not to comment. He lifted his left hand off the wheel and invited her to go on.

"I live in a small town called Yeovil in Somerset, in the South of England, " She clarified, " I go to school, go out with my best friends, all the normal things a sixteen year old does," She smiled pretending not to notice the quick glance he gave her before returning his eyes to the road. He had obviously thought that she was slightly older, " and I am just visiting for now."

He nodded slowly, " So when do you go back home?"

She shrugged, " Don't know yet but when I get to Holton I'll know. There is something that I have to check out there before I can go home."

She turned her eyes away from him and watched pensively at the passing scenery flashing by. She allowed herself to relax a little as they sped further away from the small motel and closer to her destination as the minutes passed. There was no way that Mulder and Scully would be able to track her down now. She had decided to try and hitch hike because she was afraid that Krychek would somehow manage to get away and catch up with her. She had started to panic as she walked down the road casting constant glances behind her until she could feel her nerves stretched to snapping point. She wasn't moving fast enough. He was resourceful and she knew getting away was more likely down to sheer dumb luck than anything else. If he got her again there was no way that he would allow her to get away again and this time he may actually exact revenge in ways that she didn't want to imagine for humiliating him. She had no illusions as to what he was capable of.

Preferring to not think about that she thought about her next move. She had no idea what to do when she got there. When she had formulated her plan it hadn't occurred to her to that there may not be any more tornados to try to take on. What if the storms were over down there and all that remained to do was for the local populace to try to build their lives and homes again? She would have to just try to figure out where the next ones were, she thought firmly. She really would have to start storm chasing. She cursed herself for hoping that somewhere else a poor unfortunate community would be touched by one of natures formidable examples of power. How many people would get hurt in her quest to get her home? She thought about Mulder's quest and realised where he was lucky in having Scully as his partner, someone to face the demons with him, she had no one. What had it cost _them _for their quest? So much pain and still nothing concrete to show for it.

They had been touched so evilly and reigned in by the same men that had tried to take her to use her incident for their own gain. Her mind flashed back to the episode Soft Light in which the scientist, in a freak accident, had harboured the power of antimatter in his shadow. She closed her eyes momentarily as the images of the man crying as he was attached to some machine being tested on by government scientist flooded her tired mind. She briefly wondered what had happened to him and what they had gained. Were they currently trying to use what they had learnt from him in some heinous way that would cause pain and destruction to innocent people? _No_, she thought firmly snapping her eyes open pushing the unwelcome thought away. _I won't let them take me. I'll die first._

She felt a small sense of grim satisfaction at her current situation. It was obviously meant to be this way for her anyway. What were the chances that this guy was going to take her directly to where she needed to be? What were the chances that Krychek had managed to get her so inadvertently close to her goal? Her luck was on a winning streak. She wondered how long it would be before it ran out.

James noticed the change in her demeanour and figured that she had some unresolved business. " What do you hope to find in Holton?" His voice trying to break into her distant thoughts to pull her away from the painful confusion that clouded her face.

"A way home," She answered simply after a small pause. He took the hint that she didn't want to talk about it.

"Um well I have a road map of Kansas in the glove compartment so do you want to have a look at it and try to figure out where you need to go. I'll try and get you as close as I can." His left hand waved to the glove compartment without taking his eyes off the road.

She took the map out of the crammed glove box removing a sticky boiled sweet from it that looked like it had been in there before he had purchased the car. He grinned at her, "What can I say I'm a student."

She laughed and turned her attention to the map her eyes roving over it until she found Wichita. She then followed the lines North until she finally found Holton in tiny letters. It was just north of Topeka. " Looking at this it's near Toe-pay-ka." She told him stumbling a little over the word.

"Tu-pee-ku," He corrected her with a laugh, " I go through Topeka on my way to Wichita I can drop you off in Holton."

"No honestly, it's great that I am getting that far. I will take a taxi from Topeka." She told him firmly, touched by his offer to help her, " Looking at this it would be well off your course and you said so yourself it's already a long drive. Thank you anyway."

He nodded and smiled at her deciding that closer to Topeka he would offer again with a little more insistence. Even though she seemed pretty well together he had a feeling that this girl was really lost. She had mentioned staying with family friends in D.C but he got the impression that she was a run away. He would never live with himself if he found her face staring up at him on a milk carton one morning.

"So what made you chose orthopaedics?" She asked finally managing to steer the conversation back to him.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own the X files, Mulder or Scully - Chris Carter I am so jealous of you x

Thanks to a guest review from K.E I have decided to tackle the GA/DD part of the conundrum. Originally I was going to get them to play a part but even though _I'm_ writing the story my head couldn't wrap itself around it! So I have given the agents a chance to satisfy their curiosity instead. Love the reviews and follows guys thanks as always xxx

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"Mulder, what were the names of those people that Jessica mistook us for when she first saw us?" Scully asked him from looking from her computer as he re entered the office with two coffees. She took the coffee with a small smile and took a sip gratefully as she tried to keep her tired eyes open. They had not slept all night, both worried sick about Jessica since they had found out that she was missing.

A team had turned her apartment upside down and as suspected had found nothing of value that would give them an indication as to where to look for her. They had found a partial of a size thirteen boot print near the mangled coffee table. They had already surmised that it was a man that had taken her so it wasn't a surprise and the labs had figured based on the way the black mark had smeared against her hardwood floor that he was about 190lbs give or take. Due to the struggle though it could be off.

Their small travel bags were sitting at the door ready to go for their flight to M.I.C that was leaving at 12.00. It had been the earliest flight that they could catch and considering that she had already had about a four hour head start it was going to be tight. The flight would take about three hours then they had to rent a car to drive to Holton. They should arrive in Holton about the same time. They had had squadron of the local law enforcement and field office posting the train station and bus station in Indianapolis distributing flyers with her details and picture on them. They had also staked out the stations with officers looking for her. They had enlisted the help of the authorities in Topeka and Holton as well. So far she had managed to elude them so each train and bus was being met and searched at the end of their journey. They were being kept up to date with hourly calls from all units.

Mulder and Scully had been warned by Skinner that there was a possibility that she had changed her plans but none of them truly believed it. They had been in a meeting with him that morning in the task room when a young agent had reported to them that an weather warning had been declared for that area. An F4 tornado was predicted within the next twelve hours. All three of them had stood quietly watching the agent uncomfortably shifting from foot to foot under their intense stares, as if being the harbinger of bad news had made the warning his fault. Skinner had then quietly told them to use any means and resources to get her back safely before disbanding the task force. It was now a race against time to get to her before she made her inevitable move.

"Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, why?" He replied his eidetic memory never failing him then realised what she was doing," You think that because there are two versions of Jessica's in this world there is the possibility that these two actors are in this world as well." He surmised correctly.

She nodded and typed the names into the database. He watched as the computer momentarily searched it's banks and slowly revealed the face of Gillian Anderson. Although Scully had suspected she gasped as she saw her face scroll down the screen.

"Oh my God Mulder," She whispered as his eyes hungrily scanned the screen and read the details next to the beautiful face of his partner's doppelganger.

"American born, _Actress,_ no record, currently lives in France." Mulder stood up and started pacing the room. "Scully you know this means that she's telling the truth. Look the guy up." He watched her quickly type the name and close her eyes momentarily when she saw the result. She nodded in confirmation.

"American, Actor, no record, lives in New Mexico. Mulder this is unbelievable. I just can't begin ..." Her eyes implored him to help her understand, she looked so vulnerable it was all he could do not sweep her in his arms and kiss her. It was so rare to see her so unguarded and disarmed.

"Scully, lets think about this logically," he gave her a lopsided grin the joke not lost on her. What she needed was humour to calm her not his arms however hungry he was to hold her," There are over six billion people in the world what are the chances that there aren't going to be a couple of them that look alike? Besides, aside from their looks everything about their details, their upbringing, dates of birth and lives, " he waved a hand at the computer," are completely different to ours whereas the two Jessica's currently in this world are identical in every way right down probably to the freckles on their noses."

Scully nodded in reluctant agreement. She collected her thoughts as she processed this. He was right, although this wasn't the first time she had seen this kind of thing, they had after all chased alien clones and bounty hunters that could change his appearance at will but it had never affected her so _personally_. Their lives and work had been touched so malignantly by these forces but aside from one incident where the bounty hunter had taken on Mulder's appearance it had never made her doubt their own places in the world. It had never made her question her standing in this world. The thought that their place in a world somewhere else in their universe could possibly be _entertainment, _would be too hard to bear. The pain, sacrifice and hurt that they had endured would be worthless and unnecessary, cruel even.

She believed in God but what if her God was nothing more than a talented writer who pandered to the needs and expectations of a voyeuristic audience?

"Scully, it's better that you don't think too deeply about our roles in this." Mulder told her softly reading her expressions so expertly, knowing her better than he knew himself, and the doubt that she was feeling. He had stopped pacing and sat in the chair next to her, his knee touching against hers.

He had felt the same because he had believed more readily than she had. He had decided most firmly that he would not think about the implications of what it meant. He had decided to separate the two worlds, Jessica's claim that he was a fictional character in _her_ world did not invalidate his place in _this_ world. She was a stranger in his world. For all he knew there were millions, an infinite number of versions of him and his partner in all the other worlds in the universe all different in every aspects of their lives.

Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny were perfect examples of this. They were world wide A list stars in Jessica's world. In his world they were struggling actors.

"Listen, I have been thinking about our next step in the investigation. I think we need to go England." He told her running a hand through his hair and then reached over to turn the screen off so that the picture of his doppelganger disappeared. She watched his actions silently and met his eyes, " Once we get her back then I am going to put her into protective custody. I think that we need to visit the place it happened and try to figure out how it happened. We have all the information from what the guys managed to pull together. I think we may be able to get a better idea of where to start if we are actually _there_."

She sighed and reluctantly agreed, "I guess you're right. I don't think we have much else to go on. I'll book some flights for the day after tomorrow."

"Besides maybe we could get some vacation time and I can show you some of my old haunts in Oxford. We could maybe get a nice hotel, go for dinner..." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

She raised her eyebrow playfully and leaning in she whispered seductively into his ear, " Well, that answered one of my questions about what to pack." His face registered shock for a minute and then lit up with a stupid grin as his mind went through all the possibilities her tone suggested.

"My gun." She told him firmly.

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Scully looked away from the aeroplane window and moved her head in a slow circle trying to release the tension in her neck. She winced slightly in relief as she felt her neck crack and closed her tired eyes against the cool air that pumped through the plane, making them feel dry and slightly itchy. She had the beginnings of a tension headache which was not surprising since she had only slept for about an hour on Mulder's uncomfortable couch at some point during the night. Mulder hadn't slept a wink, although it wasn't unusual for him not to sleep for days on end at times when he suffered from insomnia especially on the more harrowing cases they had pursued in the past.

She smiled with pleasure as she felt his warm hand slink up under her hair and rub her neck soothingly. She loved the way his touch always made her heart race, the warmth of his hand tingled all the way down her spine and seemed to permeate her completely. She could feel her fatigue lift slightly as his strong, supple fingers relieved the ache in her neck and the nerves stand to attention as they sent electric tingles all over her body. She took a deep cleansing breath into her lungs and exhaled slowly as her head drooped forward.

"Mmmm Mulder... you've been holding out on me. So good," She moaned quietly, her voice husky and low. She heard him chuckle quietly, feel his hand shake slightly against her tingling skin. She let out another contented sigh.

"Err... Scully it might be a good idea that you stop moaning like that because I can't be held responsible for my actions," he whispered a little hoarsely. She turned her head to look at him with a small coy smile on her face her perfect eyebrow raised playfully.

"Really _agent_ Mulder? And what kind of actions would that be?" She watched him squirm a little in his seat from his obvious physical reaction with supressed glee. She loved the fact that she now was on a level playing field with him when it came to the overt sexual innuendos, now that they had declared their feelings for each other it had stepped up a notch. The playful, sexually charged banter that he had always been comfortable and confident with, that he had used to try to unsettle her professional demeanour, was now reciprocated as she let some of her barriers down. They both knew where they were headed and she had every intention of showing him exactly what he had been missing out on for the last six years.

He leant over the space of the middle seat so that his lips were brushing against her earlobe, " Well, _agent_ Scully, lets just say that we are only a couple of rows away from the bathroom..." She breathed his scent in and felt her insides melt as his breath tickled her ear, her lips parted and she felt her breath quicken slightly. He didn't know, _yet_, that her ears were one of her weakest spots that made her knees buckle slightly, although she was pretty sure he would soon find out.

"Well," She whispered back huskily, her blue eyes half closed and heavy with lust, " I always wondered what it would be like to be part of the mile high club."

He pulled away slightly in surprise and shook his head in mild adoration." You never cease to amaze me Scully. I think I know you then..."

His thoughts chased each other as he drank the smell of her perfume and her hair in. He was going to be in serious trouble in a minute if he didn't stop because he was slowly loosing control over his little friend and not even putting his jacket over his lap would hide him away from the stewardess' milling up and down the aisle.

" I'll always keep you guessing." She told him, hiding her small smug grin by nonchalantly looking out of the window. Her heartbeat had steadied again and her body was slowly returning back to its fatigued state.

He sensed her tiredness sweeping over her and took his jacket off. He lifted the arms of the chairs between them, and folding his jacket he put it on his lap and touched her arm softly. She silently watched as his hand swept under the lapels of her jacket and realising what he wanted to do she let him help her shrug out of it. He tapped the makeshift pillow he had made on his lap and she conceded too tired to put up her normal fight. Kicking her shoes off she scooted over the middle seat and laid her head on his lap putting her feet up on the seats. She shifted her body so that she was facing him.

"Mmmm... Is that a gun in your pocket Mulder or are you happy to see me?" She purred, looking up at him from his lap. He reached down under the jacket and pulled out a snickers bar.

"You want some?" He asked with a deadpan look on his face. She laughed heartily, and he broke into a wide grin, feeling her body shaking with her laughter. He loved her silvery laugh and the way her lips pulled back showing her perfect white teeth. The way her eyes danced and her cheeks flushed so slightly.

She started to calm a little and yawned widely behind her small delicate hand, he reached over and pulled her jacket over her shoulders. "Get some sleep Scully we have a couple of hours yet. I'll wake you when we arrive."

She nodded and closed her eyes. He felt her playing with one of the buttons on his shirt the way a drowsy child might on the hem of a snuggle blanket. It was only moments before she drifted off her lips slightly parted and breathing softly, her body relaxed and her hand fell away from his shirt to lie next to her face. He could feel her warm breath against his stomach and closed his eyes relishing her closeness. She would have never allowed this before their conversation a couple of days ago. She had in the past fallen asleep on his shoulder, although not completely in line with her professional stance it had been a platonic concession, like falling asleep on her father or brothers shoulder.

Watching her sleep, he gently brushed her silky red hair back off of her face and tucked it behind her ear. She looked so peaceful, the worry and tired lines etched on her beautiful face disappeared as she slept. He still couldn't believe the leap he had taken by telling her how he felt, the crushing weight of potential rejection sitting in those moments that seemed to stretch forever, before she told him exactly what he wanted, what he begged to hear.

He knew that she loved him but she was the sensible one of the pair of them and it was a very real possibility that she could have told him to protect their work and partnership that it couldn't ever go further than that. He would have shaken it off but he would have been broken hearted about it. Instead, her acceptance and reciprocation of his feelings, and her own, had awoken a side of her that he so rarely got to see. She was outright flirting with him and the sexual innuendos and playful banter that she usually kept at bay by ignoring him or with a cold look was being returned with full gusto. If it was possible it actually made him love her more.

He laughed softly when he thought about her parry earlier that morning about taking her gun with her to England and the silent challenge she had answered and beautifully turned back on him about the mile high club.

He had only been joking about he bathroom to get a rise out of her. He had no intention of them making love for the first time in a tiny cramped toilet. She, _they_, deserved better than that. She had known that, that was why she had been so playful when she had returned with her comment, knowing it would floor him.

He couldn't wait until they took the final step but he wasn't going to rush her, everything would be on her terms. He would wait for her forever if he had to and when they finally got there he would show her just how _much_ he loved her.

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MSR rules! x


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Hi guys need to make an amendment to last chapter. I said that Mulder and Scully were flying to M.I.C which is in Minneapolis! I meant to put K.C.I which is Kansas City International airport. Sorry to any of my fellow American authors and readers that I managed to confuse but I am sure you guys knew what I meant!

Also I have never had the good fortune to visit Holton in Kansas so any people and places are solely in my imagination. From what I have read about the place it looks really beautiful. I am sorry to any of it's residents or people connected to the place if my story causes any offence - non of it is intended I swear!xx

As always thanks for reading and once again I don't own the X Files or any of it's characters!

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Scully stood in front of the car rental station at K.C.I airport with her elbows on the counter. She impatiently watched the clerk filling out the information from her documents and bit her lip to stop herself from snapping at him to hurry up. Mulder was standing a couple of feet away, deep in thought, fiddling with the charm he had found in her apartment. She could see the same impatience she was feeling in his stiff posture and his body language. He was just as scared as her that they weren't going to get to her in time.

She quickly glanced up at the clock and noted that it was already 15.35.

Frustratingly, their plane had been delayed slightly in landing due to the weather conditions, when the pilot had come over the plane's intercom system advising that they had missed their landing time window due to having to divert a little, both of them had looked at each other in quiet apprehension. They had not spoken but she had sat up feeling completely awake listening to his assurances that they would be landing as soon as possible.

They had only been delayed by half an hour but each minute counted. They still had a good ninety minute drive before they got to Holton if this clerk ever managed to get past the first page of the four page document. She sighed in frustration and finally, after another couple of minutes of tapping her manicured fingernails irritably on the marble counter she was asked to sign her name at the bottom.

Grabbing their bags they quickly exited the airport and found their car. Their usual leisurely tradition of grabbing a coffee first and discussing their case was forgotten as Mulder hastily threw their bags in the trunk and got into the passenger seat. He barely got his door closed before Scully sped off.

They had discussed the plan that morning to bypass the local sheriff's station and head straight for the diner. The sheriff had informed them that the last tornado, had been near a local diner called _Marty's_ and that the news reporters had been there the day before. This was likely to be the report that she had seen that had set the whole thing in motion. Mulder's hunch was that she would go there first to get her bearings and wait for the tornado to land. Scully had agreed and trying to be optimistic had suggested that she may want to stop for something to eat or drink first considering that she didn't think that anyone was following her.

Mulder had readily agreed until the weather warning report had been handed to him. Now he knew that they weren't just racing to make sure they caught her before she flew off again, they were also racing against a force that couldn't be predicted, a force that could land any second without any warning.

The uncomfortable silence permeated the car as each mused on their own thoughts, the tension growing as the signs sped by indicating how far they were from the small town. Twenty minutes away from Holton Scully looked over her bonnet and stared at the sky.

"Mulder." She broke the silence, he looked up from the map in his hand, the other fiddling with the small charm. She was pointing upwards to the sky her mouth set in a grim line.

"I guess we no longer need the map." He said with a humourless smile, putting it back in the glove compartment.

She didn't reply, she simply put her foot down on the accelerator and sped towards the darkening sky.

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The car pulled up to _Marty's diner_ in Holton just after five that evening. As they had entered the outskirts of the town their chatter had died down as they had driven in and seen the chaos that the tornados had left in their wake. The destruction was unbelievable. There wasn't a building or area that hadn't been somehow touched by the force of nature. The farmhouses had shattered windows, the wood and paintwork scarred from flying debris, everything ranging from overturned animal troughs to horse saddles and car doors littered the fields and roads. As they had passed the wooded areas lining the main road into the town there were branches, tree trunks and leaves snarled, entangled and meshed as far as the eye could see.

She took a deep breath surveying the nearly empty parking lot, maybe with ten cars or so. Even though there had been teams of people trying to clear the aftermath of the ferocious winds the day before it looked like they had not even made a start. Jessica felt her heart break with sadness. She felt responsible somehow. The more time she had spent brooding as they had sped down the motorway the more sure she had been in her convictions that this was all related to her arrival a couple of days before. As narcassistic as it may be her gut feeling was insisting to her that this was all about her. And that this was her ticket home and these poor people had felt the brunt of it. She was positive that it would all be over as soon as she stepped up and faced it.

"Jessica." He watched her watching the brooding black sky. The town was in a dusky darkness even though it was early evening. Usually this time of day the sun was still shining regardless of the time of year, only the temperature varied.

He cleared his throat and spoke a little louder, " Jessica." She turned to him with tears glistening in her distant eyes. He could see the sorrow and grief that she felt for these people, no one could be unmoved by the destruction in this small town, but there was something else. He had a sense of foreboding as he saw the look of tired resignation settled on her, weighing heavily on her features making her young face age visibly before his eyes.

"You could walk away." He told her softly his brown eyes imploring her to rethink whatever she was planning," You can drive away now with me back to Topeka and not look back."

She smiled sadly at him, the half light casting shadows across her face. She shook her head softly, " I have to do this." She told him with a finality to her voice that sent a shiver down his spine.

She broke his intense gaze and leaning over to the back seat grabbed her bag. She rifled through it finding her tennis shoes and exchanged them quickly whilst he watched her. "I think these would be a little inappropriate at the moment with what these people have been through." She said quietly holding up the garish shoes.

He simply nodded and looked out at the diner, he could see the place was unsurprisingly nearly empty although he had a feeling under normal circumstances it was a probably the local hot spot on a Saturday night.

"Thank you for everything." She told him sincerely, she leant in a kissed him softly on the cheek. She pulled away and with a small smile bade him goodbye.

He watched her for a minute through the wind shield surveying the area and realising that she wasn't going to change her mind he pulled out of the car park. She waved giving him a reassuring nod. She watched him drive all the way down the long winding road and turned her attention to the black sky. It moved like a pit of snakes undulating and roiling over each other. It was waiting for her.

She felt waves of fear crashing over her as she knew it was coming soon. She took a shaky breath as the winds started to pick up shaking the unsteady glass windows in the diner, making them rattle. Her hair whipped out around her as she felt the warm winds circle around her pulling at her clothes, beckoning her to the spot on the horizon where the dark sky met the rolling green hills and inclines. She barely notice the windows stopping their rattle behind her as the winds died down again. It would be soon. This was a warning that it was ready when she was.

"First a little dutch courage I think and a cigarette and then I am all yours." she whispered to the sky before turning around and walking into the diner.

She walked into the diner and her eyes scanned the quickly over the booths and its patrons. There were a couple of groups of men in grubby work clothes sitting around in the booths and at the bar, drinking beers. All of them had the same tired and haunted looks in their eyes. The level of noise fell slightly as the patrons turned to look at her. She felt them survey her warily, she was a stranger in a town where everyone knew each other. She would have to be very careful about what she told them.

"Can I help you miss?" The man standing behind the bar was in the middle of packing large bottles of alcohol in a large box. Jessica figured the guy was in his sixties and probably the owner of the diner. He looked like a Marty. He was plainly dressed in jeans, a worn plaid shirt and biker boots. His hair was a silver grey, and he sported long stubble on his weathered, tanned face. He had dark black eyes that she reckoned would burn through any lies or bullshit that she might spout.

"Yeah, please can I have a brandy, a coffee and a pack of ten menthols." She asked wearily, sitting down heavily on one of the stools and dropping her bag at her feet.

The guy looked a little surprised at her and eyed her with suspicion."Now missy you don't look like you're twenty-one."

She looked up in surprise at his stern expression and then realising her mistake laughed good-naturedly even though he could hear a slightly shaky resonance to it.

" I am sorry, " She told him quietly, rubbing her forehead and kicking herself for forgetting for a minute how far away from home she was. She had never had a problem with getting served when she went out, "I forgot the legal age in America is twenty-one, in England it's only eighteen." She smiled tiredly at him, " Just the coffee and cigarettes thanks."

He watched her for a couple of seconds in silence weighing her up and then proceeded to fill up a coffee cup and pass her the cigarettes. He grabbed a clean ashtray and a box of matches and placed them in front of her.

"Thanks." She muttered as she lifted the cup to her mouth and then lit up taking a long drag on the cigarette. She closed her eyes in appreciation as the nicotine raced through her blood and to her tired brain giving her a lift. She only smoked when she went out for a drink with her friends and she loved the buzz it gave her although she would never take it up as a full time habit.

He watched her, enjoying her cigarette and coffee with an exhaustion that seemed to hang on her pretty features. He knew who she was. Her name was Jessica Myers. Bob Jessop, the local sheriff, had dropped by earlier that afternoon to inform him that a warning from the F.B.I had come through that a sixteen year old British tourist had been been kidnapped and somehow escaped, now she was currently, for reasons unknown, making her way to their small town. His instructions were that she was to be stopped and detained until the agents in charge of the case arrived later that afternoon. He had silently handed over a picture of a pretty girl in what was unmistakably a school uniform with a confident and winning smile.

She looked older in person but he figured that was to do with some heavy burden she was carrying. If she had been kidnapped and taken away from her family why the hell was she sitting at his bar looking like the world sat on her shoulders in the middle of nowhere instead of going to the first police station she could find?

Something didn't make sense. He wondered if there was more to the story, maybe she killed her kidnapper in her attempt to get away? He coughed gruffly and for a moment couldn't help feeling sorry for her. If she had killed her kidnapper, it was his own damn fault, she was obviously trying to defend herself against something that he was doing to her and managed to get away. Who was he to judge a desperate act in a desperate situation?

She had obviously felt the need for a drink and rest before she carried on to where ever the hell she was going. Or before the law caught up with her.

"Why brandy? That's quite a heavy drink choice for someone so young." He enquired breaking her out of the slight stupor that she was sat in.

"It reminds me of home, " She replied wistfully, "It reminds me of my dad. On Christmas Eve it's tradition for my family to sit together curled up in front of the fire watching movies. We all have a brandy together to celebrate the beginning of the holidays."

She caught the look of sympathy on his face. She couldn't believe that this man could possibly feel sorry for_ her _whilst he was packing all his livelihood in boxes in the face of such destruction to his property.

"Long way from home huh? What you doing all the way out here?" He asked kindly wondering if she would tell some of the basic truth he was already privy to.

"Yeah. A very long way from home." She agreed sadly, " I just thought I would stop quickly before I go on. I'm just passing through I have a ride to catch."

" What are you running from?" He asked succinctly. She chuckled softly, this guy obviously was used to people peddling their sob stories at his bar. He could probably read most people like a book although it wasn't much of a leap to conclude that she was runaway from home because of her accent and youth.

"Well yesterday it was a bad guy that I managed to get away from, who knows about today? Its not over yet." She told him with a lopsided smile. She held her hands up and shrugged, "What can I say, same kind of shit different day."

"You guys should know. I am so sorry all this has happened to you." She told him earnestly. He nodded in acknowledgement at her condolences but she knew that he didn't realise how sorry she was that it had happened and that it could all somehow be connected to her.

He sighed heavily, " Well it's not the first time it's happened in my lifetime, the last time was when I was a young boy but unfortunately it's not the end of it." He paused waving his hand towards the large wall mounted T.V, "It looks like we have one more to deal with and it's going to be a doozy. They are predicting an F4 landing at some point in the next couple of hours so I wouldn't stay longer than you have to."

He watched her reaction as she sat up straighter in her chair a look of trepidation dawning on her face. He also detected a small flit of relief pass through her widened chocolate eyes but shook it off thinking that he was mistaken.

He turned to the boxes lining the floor by his feet and rooted through two of them before finding what he was looking for. He grabbed two glasses, pouring some brandy in each glass he pushed one towards her. "We all need a little Dutch courage from time to time." He clinked her glass and took a drink smacking his lips appreciatively.

She smiled warmly at him and took a swallow. She could feel the alcohol burning all the way down and then the familiar warmth that spread across her chest. It was delicious, slightly different to the one that her father bought every year but just as good.

"Thanks." She mumbled, feeling the tears pool in her eyes as the taste and smell of the burnt caramel coloured liquid reminded her so painfully about her family. Brushing them angrily away she cleared her throat, " Well I guess I better stop bugging you and let you get on. I'll go sit in a booth for a while then I had better make a move."

He nodded and watched her move her things over to one of the middle booths where she proceeded make herself comfortable on the padded vinyl bench. After a couple of minutes, two of his younger regulars sidled up to the bar casting side way glances at Jessica before turning back to him.

"Is that the tourist the sheriff was talking about earlier?" Tommy asked in a hushed whisper casting her a quick look over his shoulder to make sure she couldn't hear their conversation. She was staring out of the window holding a lit cigarette which was burning itself away without her noticing.

"Now how in the hell would you know about that Tommy Daniels unless you were trying to overhear my _private_ conversation with the sheriff?" He asked him evenly looking him in the eye with a stern expression. Both boys baulked a little at the severity of his expression and looked a little sheepish.

"Sorry Mr Johnson we just happened to be near the bar and overheard you guys talking." His companion, Joe muttered with his eyes cast down. "She's mighty pretty." He observed glancing over at Tommy who agreed with a quick flash of a grin and a nod.

"Now you two leave that poor girl alone," Marty warned them both gruffly, he kept his voice low but the stern tone came through with clarity," let her have her drink in peace that girl has probably gone through more shit than you guys could ever imagine and she doesn't need a pair of idiots like you two making matters worse."

He sighed heavily, "I'll give it ten minutes and I'll call Bob myself to tell him." He dismissed them with a pointed nod to their group on the other side of the diner and they slunk off again, once again muttering their apologies.

With a quick look over at them making sure they were behaving themselves, he then cast his eyes briefly over to her forlorn figure. Marty turned back to the boxes on the floor to reseal them and decided that maybe he would give her twenty minutes, it didn't look like she was going far anyway.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the X Files or their characters. I also don't own the film Twister or any of its characters. This is all for fun. Thanks in advance for not suing me x

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"You are so busted." Mulder whispered in her ear from behind her clamping a firm hand on her upper arm and dragged her from the small booth. Jessica jumped violently, feeling herself swing moving to stand in front of him. Her head fell back in exasperation as she let out a frustrated, guttural growl. She should have known they would get to her. She was so _close _to her goal.

"How in the hell did you find me?!" She demanded snapping her eyes back to them and crossing her arms across her chest. Her body language screamed with hostility. Scully stood glaring at her infuriated at her attitude. Mulder had let go of her arm and was also standing at her glaring with his hands on his hips. She noted through her anger that the pissed off Mulder she had seen the other day wasn't even close to what she was seeing now. He was barely restraining himself.

She saw a flash of her parents in exactly the same stances, the year before when she had snuck out with Rob and her friends to a weekend festival she had been expressly forbidden to go to. She had been grounded until Christmas. She laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of the situation. She sat down heavily in the booth still laughing and turning back into the booth, reached for the drink.

"This is so fucking ridiculous." She muttered and took a long swallow. She laid her head against the padded back and heaved a sigh closing her eyes. She felt Mulder's legs brush against hers as he got into the booth, placing his black trench coat on the empty window seat beside her.

"Well, I think we need to get rid of this first." He told her quietly as he picked up the glass and gave it to Scully who moved to the bar to order them a coffee. He moved his hand to the cigarettes and her had snapped up.

" You touch my fags and I'll deck you," she snarled a slight northern London accent betraying her birthplace.

"Okaaayy." His hands pausing and pulling back he held them up. She glared at him as she picked them up and lit one up lazily, taking a deep pull.

"Right, Bonnie," he joked.

"How did you find me?" She cut across him. She wasn't in the mood for his glib sense of humour. She was regretting her earlier weakness at needing a drink and cigarette. If she had just carried on with her plan she might have already been tackling her demons. Instead she was going to be dragged back to D.C probably in handcuffs no less. She would have to deal with the disapproving and condescending looks that she would receive from each of the adults. Most likely she wasn't going to be allowed to be left alone at any point in the future just in case she tried to do it again.

"You obviously caught up with Krychek and he told you." Before he could answer. She snapped her head to the side with a scowl on her face, " God that man is _such a weasel_. I bet he told you where I was to buy himself some grace." Muttering some choice words under her breath she flicked her cigarette at the ashtray.

"So it was Krychek that took you?" She raised her head in surprise at his question. He didn't look surprised but the way he set his jaw told her that his temper was rising again.

"If it wasn't him that told you how did you know where to find me?" She asked with a frown.

" He escaped the room before the local sheriff could get him but he left a note to me and Scully telling us you were here." He told her.

Jessica felt her anger ebb slightly. The man had stopped to in the middle of his escape to write a note. Somewhere in that mercenary heart of his, he had felt a small glimmer of regret that she was going to die and had left a message to the people he knew could stop her, telling them where she was going. God, she hated him anyway for foiling her plans but she grudgingly accepted the sentiment that was behind the gesture.

They both sat in the booth quietly musing over their own thoughts. Mulder still couldn't figure out why he had helped them find her. Something had obviously happened to change his mind. From what he could guess she had simply been a job. He knew enough about Krychek that he had no compunction about killing people. It was what he did for a living. He would have simply put a bullet in her head and left her body with the unmarked gun in Scully's apartment just as he had with Melissa. When he had gone looking for her in the apartment when they had returned to find her missing he had expected to find her body. When they had realised that both Jessica and her belongings were gone they had known that she was alive and had been taken.

The timing was off as well. The owner had said that Jessica had only been in the reception fifteen minutes before his call and that she had planned to walk into the town which would normally take twenty minutes. They had found Krychek was missing within half an hour of her having placed her call to Mulder's mobile. This meant that he had escaped and could have easily picked her up further down the road. Instead he had let her go, leaving the note telling them where to find her. He had known they would trace the call to that motel and would send the local law enforcement to get her.

They both watched as Scully slid into the booth with a graceful sweep and handed Mulder a coffee. Scully regarded her with an icy glare pointedly looking at the cigarette and Jessica conceded reluctantly. She rolled her eyes stubbing out the cigarette in the ashtray. Scully exhaled through her nose in satisfaction and sipped at her coffee. She was so tired after the last twenty four hours and she was not in the mood to deal with a disgruntled teenager.

"It was Krychek." He informed her quietly. He watched her reaction, seeing the anger flash through her ocean blue eyes. The bastard had killed her sister and she still felt her heart constrict with silent rage every time she heard his name. It also filled with never ending sorrow and guilt for the loss of Melissa. They potentially had had him in their grasp and _once again_ he had slithered away again into the woodwork after causing disruption in their lives. After what had happened only a couple of months before with Skinner in which his life had been held in Krychek's hands her old hatred of their nemesis had been rekindled. She dropped her gaze from Mulder's momentarily wallowing in her frustration and then looked up at Jessica.

"What happened?" Scully asked curiously.

Jessica had not missed the look on Scully's face and felt a stab of remorse. She had had this guy in her grasp and had let him go. She cleared her throat feeling uncomfortable about the situation, " He tackled me in your apartment, unfortunately I got a smack to the head," She flicked her head up slightly indicating to the now prominent bump she had just behind her ear, "then he put a chloroform rag over my mouth which I was already disorientated so I passed out. Next thing I knew, hours later, I was handcuffed and tied to a chair in a motel room ."

"Then we talked." She sighed tiredly, " He told me that his employers thought that I was a valuable commodity and that they were going to experiment on me to try to figure out what happened to me and how I got across. Obviously, I don't think they are interested in sending me home." She told them with a humourless smile.

"Anyway, we ate pizza watched TV. I went for a shower and then I was handcuffed to the bed." She was fiddling with the cigarette packet as they sat patiently listening to her story, " He had taken off his prosthetic arm so in the early hours of the morning I woke him telling him I needed the bathroom, he gave me the key so I quickly un cuffed my wrist, we fought and I finally managed to cuff his right wrist. Without his left arm he couldn't do anything." She shrugged indifferently having told them this information as if she was telling them about a boring day at school.

She sat up in the booth, straightening her t-shirt and leaned her elbows on the table. She felt guilty now that she had let her own emotions and need to follow her own plan sway her decision. These people had helped her and she had let slip away their one chance to bring him to justice even possibly to exact a little revenge. She could have told Mulder where she was and sat tight waiting for him to arrive, keeping the gun trained on him so that he couldn't escape. Maybe they could have seen to it that he was punished to a certain extent for his past crimes.

"I'm sorry that he escaped," She apologised, pressing her lips together she could feel the sticky vestiges of the gloss she had reapplied in the car still present. "I made a bad decision and as a result you guys missed out on getting some payback."

"The lady that owned the place told me that you asked her to knock on the door an hour after you were gone, giving her some bullshit story about him being your half brother and him oversleeping." Mulder told her, his voice very low." Why did you do that?"

She looked up at them and was sorry to see them frowning at her in confusion and a glimmer of mistrust. She bit at her top lip and let it slide from her teeth as she decided whether to tell them what had prompted her to make the decision.

"The truth is, well I know he has done some pretty heinous things to you guys in the past and when I saw him standing in your apartment knowing that he had come to deliver me to the syndicate I expected the same from him but... but well he wasn't. I was at the most vulnerable that I have ever been before and he could have hurt me. But he didn't." She told them her voice faltering a little. She picked up the discarded foil from the cigarette packet and rolled it in between her fingers. She noticed how her fingernails were not as buffed and polished as they had been when she had arrived. The nail varnish was chipped now.

" I knew that if you caught up with him Mulder, that you would probably kick the shit out of him," She momentarily closed her eyes hating that she had been so soft and having to admit to it. " I just didn't have the heart to leave him there knowing what was going to happen."

She sighed in resignation. They were probably going to berate her for being so naïve or look at her condescendingly like adults tended to do," I told her to give him an hour so that it got me away from him but long enough that it would give him a chance to get away before you guys turned up. I'm really sorry that I took that chance away from you." Scully looked at Mulder with concern etched on her beautiful features. He nodded understanding that they were both thinking the same thing and turned back to Jessica.

"Jessica don't beat yourself up too much, you just made a bad decision. The important thing is that you're safe. It's a common occurrence that happens a lot in this kind of situation." Mulder told her gently, calling on his expertise as a physcoanalyst, " It's called Stockholm Syndrome-"

Jessica barked a harsh laugh at him in response to his analysis, " Stockholm Syndrome! You think that I fell in love with my captor?" She shook her head in exasperation.

Mulder and Scully reacted simultaneously, startled, " You've heard of it before?" Scully asked her eyebrows raised.

"My uncle Tony was a psychologist and counsellor before he retired. He sometimes used to work freelance with the police." She explained, " He has told me of cases, well not actual case details but of situations in which women who have been held for years by abusive captors have either fallen in love with them or sympathised with them sometimes defending them when they get caught despite what they have been through at their captors hands."

"I am not in love with Krychek," she insisted looking at each of them," I just saw a slightly different side of him than what I am used to seeing you know in the times he's showed up in your lives. I guess... I guess I just expected him to hurt me, he had the opportunity and he didn't."

Scully continued to watch her with concern. She had noted the soft almost reluctant tone that she used and the slight betrayal of her emotions beneath the surface of her nonchalant account of the events. There was something she was not telling them about her ordeal. She wondered if Krychek had taken advantage of her. She felt a spike of anger at the thought but maintained her impassive face. To a certain extent it would explain why he let her go this morning and why she had tried to protect him from Mulder's wrath. Mulder seemed to be analysing her in the same way.

Scully leaned in and placed her hand on Jessica's, "Jessica, did Krychek take advantage of you?"

Jessica sighed and rolled her eyes, " No he didn't. That's the point," she assured them running a hand through her hair and shaking it out lightly, " I had both of my wrists handcuffed to the bed so I couldn't escape we were talking and he kissed me, "she watched as both agents tensed, " _he kissed me_ after I jibed him about people thinking he was gay but then he pulled away." She almost laughed as she saw them relax slightly. Both the agents hadn't realised they had been holding their breath as they exhaled, their fears allayed, " He told me that if I hadn't been so young he wouldn't have stopped but basically that he wasn't the right guy for me. As I said I was really vulnerable and he didn't take advantage. He never hurt me, even the bang on my head was an accident." She winced as she touched the lump gingerly.

Both the agents were relieved. They understood that Krychek had known that she had already had enough of a traumatic ordeal within the last week and he had had enough humanity left in him, however small, not to permanently emotionally scar the teenager for life.

"Ok so the Krychek thing was a mistake but Jessica, I get the reasoning behind why you think the tornado will get you home but what were you actually planning on doing?" Scully chastised her.

Jessica snorted, "Well I wasn't planning on stepping up to it and hoping for the best if that's what you were thinking. Give me _some_ credit. I would die before I was within five hundred meters of it." She paused, lighting up a cigarette and ignoring Scully's disapproving look," I was going to try to get into the eye of the storm. That's where the lightning is." She shrugged and flicked her cigarette ash at the ashtray.

Scully's mouth seem to purse tighter into an tight arc, Mulder just watched her with a bemused look on his face.

"Have you guys ever seen the film _Twister_?" Both nodded in acknowledgement.

"So you were going to tie yourself down and hope that you survived long enough to make it into the eye?" Mulder asked understanding the theory but finding it incredible that she thought it may work. Jessica caught the look of disbelief on his face and cringed slightly. Of all people who she thought would understand she put her money on Mulder,even if he didn't agree. _Guess I really am on my own_, she thought ruefully wondering why it caused her a flicker of hurt. They didn't owe her anything why should she care? _Fuck them, I was going to do it by myself anywa_y.

"My gut instinct tells me that this is the way I am meant to get home," She told them quietly taking a drag of her cigarette, and exhaling it slowly through her nose. She cast a look around the diner and out of the window forlornly, "These people have suffered because of this thing, I just have this feeling that this is the way its meant to be, that it won't stop until I face it."

"Jessica, the weather isn't controlled by-" She stopped short with a frown on her face, thinking of her last stint in Kansas only the year before where the local weatherman and his secret love for his friend Sheila caused havoc with the weather.

"Mmm... yeah, " She gave Scully a knowing smile correctly guessing why she suddenly stopped," I did debate getting in touch with your friend Holman and seeing if he could help me but I remembered that he couldn't necessarily control it at will, that it was more to do with his emotions than anything else. I exhausted that option." She dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand.

"Jessica, either way I don't think this is the best way," Mulder told her earning a flicker of smile from Scully that he didn't see or chose to ignore.

Jessica threw her head back and laughed bitterly, " Yeah Mulder that's rich coming from you! Hmm ... let me think the time you had your memory wiped by the military, the time you went to Alaska and got your arse kicked by an alien bounty hunter, the time you ended up in the Burmuda triangle drowning but to name a few... each time Scully saved your arse." She sighed with frustration as Mulder opened his mouth to argue," My point is that each time you followed your _gut instinct_ and each time you were_ right_... even if it meant you nearly dying."

"This is my kobayashi maru." She exhaled slowly through her nose chewing on the inside of her mouth, and grabbed the ashtray to dock her cigarette out. She saw the flicker of acknowledgement in Mulder's eyes but Scully sat with a frown watching the pair of them looking at each other. She was not surprised that Mulder knew what it meant, his eidetic memory impressed her no end with its bank of information.

"It's a no-win scenario in which there is only one inevitable outcome." Jessica informed her with a resigned air, shrugging dejectedly, " No options, no way out, the only choice you have is how you choose to face it."

"Star Trek." Mulder mumbled to Scully.

Her eyebrow shot up, "Your quoting Star Trek? Oh brother."

"The principle is still the same." She snapped back, bristling at Scully's poke at her.

"Jessica, there are options-" Mulder started.

Jessica felt her temper flare again, frustrated that he was continuing to pound on about non existent choices, feeding her bullshit because he thought that it was what her naive, sixteen year old, silly girl heart wanted to hear. _I am not fucking stupid!_ She was sick of being pandered to by adults, spoken to like she was stupid. She knew her situation, she accepted her situation, she had the options and she had accepted that she had to deal with them so why weren't they listening to her?

" YOU CAN'T FIX THIS!" She bellowed at him in frustration, spitting each word out individually " YOU CAN'T SAVE ME!" The entire bar came to a standstill at her outburst but she didn't care. The two agents stared at her in shock. Her shoulders slumped and her voice dropped to normal volume again as she spoke to him with a sadness that seemed to permeate her whole body, " You can't save _everyone_ Mulder. You can't save me. You have to let it go and just accept it. I have, why can't you?"

"As far as I am concerned there are two options," She told them firmly before they could respond to her sudden explosion. " You can either walk away and let me do what I have to do, " she diverted their eyes to the window with a nod of her head towards the horizon, " or you send me back to England and hand me over to my Government."

She leant forward and narrowed her eyes venomously," There is no_ fucking_ way that I am going to be that black lung bastard's _bitch_. You choose but either way I am going _home._"

The muscle in Mulder's jaw twitched slightly as it set. He watched Jessica's face set in determination and felt like kicking her arse for talking to them in the insolent way that she had but he understood her frustration. In her young mind she saw that there was no other way out of her situation other than what she had in front of her. He admitted to himself that the outlook looked bleak. He currently only had a less concrete idea of how to get her home but he was sure as hell not going to allow her to get killed in the process. The other option was just as abhorrent, a test subject for the rest of her life? Were they going to hand her over knowing that what her fate would be? She could portray herself to be as strong as she wanted in front of them but she had no idea what it would truly be like. He had been held in the camp in Russia for less than a week but the horror that he experience, and survived, still sat with him heavily.

He had absolutely no doubt that the men that ran the shadow Government within the British Government was just as ruthless and callous as his own. He knew that once they had her and knew what had happened to her there wasn't a cats chance in hell that they would let her go regardless of her determination to get back home. She would be too valuable to let her go. Her body and mind would endure the most heinous experiments pushed to its absolute limits and they would ensure that once she was in there that there was no release. Death would not be an option. And no one would be able to save her.

He needed a new approach. He had been working on a new theory the last couple of hours that had given him a little hope and if it worked she could get home safely but first he had to get her out of this suicidal, gong ho mindset of throwing herself under a freight train and hoping for the best. He had to coax her into being more patient and trusting him.

He softened his features slightly before speaking to her. He knew that if he spoke to her with anger or frustration she would snap and not listen to him.

"Before we make a decision about either of those which at the moment look like they are you're only options please will you listen to my theory as to how I think you are here?" His green eyes beseeched her and Jessica could feel herself soften in spite of herself. She nodded slightly feeling her body relax slightly out of its defensive posture.

"I think you can astral-project." Scully closed her eyes momentarily, praying for patience.

"Mulder!" She rolled her eyes with exasperation and pursed her generous lips, " Astral project? What happened to the alternate universe theory?"

"Wait." Jessica interrupted, her body uncoiling from the tension she had felt before. " Astral-project... what does that mean?"

"It means that your soul or spirit can leave your body," Scully told her impatiently before giving Mulder a disgruntled look," _Scientifically_ of course there is no proof of it. It's based on spiritual and completely subjective experiences."

"I have been thinking about it on the plane today, obviously our first priority was to catch up with Domino Harvey here first," Mulder waved to Jessica, ignoring the confused look she threw him, in his normal exuberant fashion, " I do believe that Jessica got struck by lightning but you told me that she was experiencing all the first hand symptoms and none of the secondary symptoms. Well, I think that is because Jessica is now in both universes, I think that the lightning forced her soul or spirit to leave her physical body in another universe and travel to this one. In her universe her body shows all the physical signs of the incident but her spirit in this universe doesn't."

" So what you are saying is that technically my body is still in my own universe... but what? Dead?" He could see the determination die in the blink of an eye. She had believed that she was going to get home whole but what if there was nothing to get home to?

"No, I think it's more likely that you are currently in some kind of coma." He corrected her.

"Mulder, if your theory is correct then Jessica's soul or spirit, whatever, shouldn't be able to physically manifest itself in this universe. She should be a ghost, no?" She reached over and picked up Jessica's slack wrist which flopped back to the table with a small thump." She has a pulse and she is as solid as you or me."

"No, not really." He carried on unperturbed with the same air of patience that he always exhibited when Scully shot down one of his theories, " It's known as a subtle body, the projection can manifest itself physically or as an apparition that harbours the emotional and well being of the spirit."

Jessica nodded slowly as she digested this information. " So how do I get my mind and body back together?"_  
_

He grabbed her hand, stroking her knuckles gently, turning his smouldering eyes onto her, he spoke to her softly in his deep voice, "Well that's what I was going to suggest. You come back to D.C with us we'll put you in protective custody and we'll get someone who can help you access that power. There are guru's and spiritual leaders that can help you."

Jessica felt pulled in by his gaze, his eyes imploring her to reconsider. Much to her chagrin she felt herself blush and her heart beat speed up. She closed her eyes breaking the gaze and nodded in defeat. Feeling her heartbeat slowdown, she took her hand out of his and put both her hands on her lap.

"Ok." She sighed looking at them she saw Scully smile for the first time since they had found her. Mulder couldn't seem to keep the slightly smug look off of his face although he tried to keep his features as neutral as possible, " If you think you can help me."

She was fiddling with her fingers on her lap. Scully felt a little bit sorry for her, Mulder had turned on his full charm and she had been side swiped. Despite her feeling sorry for the teenager, at the moment she didn't care about Mulder's methods as long as they got results.

"Right then. I'm going to the bathroom. Then we can go if you want to." She said demurely, as she slid out of the booth and made her way to the back of the bar, towards the bathrooms.

Mulder exhaled loudly and grinned broadly at Scully. "Well that's one disaster averted."

She reluctantly felt a small tug at her lips at his boyish antics and turned her head away not giving him the satisfaction of allowing him to gloat.

"Come on lets pay up and get out of here. I want to try to get a flight back home tonight if we can." She grabbed his trench coat and handed it to him, sliding smoothly out of the booth. He took it from her and picked up Jessica's bag.

They sauntered over to the bar to pay their bill. Marty looked over his shoulder to where Jessica had disappeared moments before and turned back to the agents.

"Are you the agents Bob was talking about?" He asked quietly, fingering through the dollar bills Mulder gave him and deposited them in his cash register. Scully's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"You knew sir and you didn't call the sheriff to tell him that she was here?" She asked sternly.

He shrugged without caring, " She looked like she had enough problems on her plate. I would have called him... eventually." He didn't react to her stern gaze and she figured it wasn't so much that he didn't care it was more that he felt sorry for the girl and was giving her some time to try to get herself together. It was compassion for a stranger in the face of hard times.

"She also had a drink that you haven't put on the bill." Mulder pointed to his tab receipt. There were only three coffees and the pack of menthols printed on the slip of paper.

"What drink? I served her a coffee and cigarettes as she requested." He told him with a small smile on his face. Mulder nodded understanding and didn't push the matter any further.

Mulder was rifling through his pockets, with a frown on his face.

"Scully... I can't find the keys."

They turned to the bar owner as he started chuckling and followed his hand pointing out of the window. Watching in disbelief, their rental car screeched out of the car park.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own the X Files or its characters or those of Twister although I have sneakily borrowed some of the ideas from the end of the movie. Please don't sue me I am poor and it is after all just for fun! x

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A couple of minutes earlier...

Jessica stood in the shadow of the back exit of the bar looking around the car park. She clutched the small charm that she had found in Mulder's coat pocket and shut her eyes feeling the tears welling beneath the lids and threatening to escape.

She had nearly been pulled in by the whole sultry look and knuckle rubbing that he had basically thrown at her out of nowhere but when she had removed her hand and put it on the seat, it had brushed against the charm that must have fallen out of his pocket next to her. Her fingers had felt the electric jolt through them and she had known that it was a sign not to give up.

Even though she had believed him about the Astro projection theory there was no proof that it would work and once she was back in D.C she figured there wouldn't be another chance like this one coming her way again as a back up. It was clear they weren't going to ever let her out of their sight again. She would be trapped. She had to carry on with her plan as she had always intended. _She was so so clos_e._ She could feel it._

Angrily wiping her tears away she touched the charm to her trembling lips, and kissed it for luck. She didn't have much time before they would realise what she had done and then she would definitely be travelling back to D.C in cuffs if they caught her. She quickly looked down at the rental car keys and turned over the fob to read the signature, Ford. She looked around hopelessly seeing at least three or four cars bearing the unmistakable logo. She raised the fob clicking the open button and saw the long car click and flash just to the left of her. She let out a shaky breath, "Thank you, thank you, thank you" and ducking low, ran over to the drivers side.

It was parked away from the front of the building, which explained why she hadn't seen them pull in. They must have spotted her in the window and snuck the car around out of the way so she didn't spy them on the way in.

She threw herself in the car seat and with a cry of relief realised it was an automatic." Again thank you thank you thank you." She whispered looking down at the console. She had known that the first obstacle that she would have to face was the gears. After many months of pleading with her dad to take her to the old abandoned industrial site on the edge of town to show her how to drive he had finally relented. Just after her sixteenth birthday he had taken her there and gone through the mechanisms of the car and the basics of driving. She had found it hard to get her head around the gear changes and had watched in exasperation as her father rolled about laughing unrestrained at her kangeroo-ing all the way across the large plot. Her father had joked about buying her an automatic between fits of laughter and had explained the difference between the two. At the time she had not been impressed and had given him the silent treatment all the way home. Right now, all she wanted to do was throw her arms around him and give him a kiss.

She quickly looked over at the one window down the side of the bar and saw that no one had seen her. She could vaguely see the two agents standing at the bar in the background, talking to Marty. She knew the basics of the automatic car knowing that it was as simple as it was directed on the console. No gear changes.

"Here goes nothing," She muttered clutching the charm tightly in her hand, as she started the car, shushing at it as it roared to life, worried that someone had noticed. Glancing over quickly she let out her held breath slowly as she noticed nothing changed in the bar and put the car into reverse, releasing the handbrake. Pulling out of the space, which thankfully had no cars either side, she put it into Drive and gunning the engine, made her way to the exit slowly picking up speed.

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"I am going to fucking kill her!" Mulder yelled smacking the steering wheel as they careened after the rental car that had just flown out of the large car park moments before, "If we all get out of this alive I swear I am going to fucking kill her!"

Scully gripped the dashboard of Marty's old pick up truck and fought hard against the bubble of laughter that nearly escaped her lips at his anger despite the terror she felt. Mulder was incensed because he had been ditched. And outplayed by a 16 year old girl.

She had seen what he had done before. There had been a silent understanding that Jessica had had a crush on Mulder. She had hidden it well and she had not made it obvious and the agents had not teased her about it. If she had been older or if he had known her better Mulder would have tried his best to unsettle her like he relished doing to Scully at every opportunity but he had been on his best behaviour. Mulder had a tendency to make most women act like a hormone driven 16 year old, she ruefully thought, that she was in no way immune when he turned on that smouldering charm. When he had implored her to reconsider, he had used that charm and they had both watched the 16 year old pulled in under that spell as she had given up on her idea without much of a fight. She had obviously been a lot more scheming than both of them had given her credit for. Either that or maybe Mulder was losing his touch.

Mulder had not finished his tirade," She looked me in the eye! She was never going to let it go! And I believed her!" He quickly glanced at his partner and came up short at the small smirk that had flashed across her face, "You find this funny!?

"No! Of course not." She said almost sheepishly," Mulder. You just happen to be voicing my exact thoughts every time you ditch me."

His face registered shock for a second. "Scully- I-"

"Mulder I am not having a pop at you but really is this anything different to what you would have done if it had been your hunch?" Scully asked reasonably. "I mean maybe she does know us better than we know ourselves. She was right about what she said to you. If this was _your_ hunch_ your_ intuition _your_ gut feeling you would chase it without a second thought."

She paused for a minute glancing at him," It's usually me sitting where you are terrified that I will be too late. That I won't get to you in time. And always furious that you leapt off the cliff without pause based on nothing more than a gut feeling."

Mulder clenched his jaw in irritation as he felt the truth ring in her words. Maybe if he had been in Jessica's situation he would have done the same thing. Scully turned away from him with a knowing smile and then instantly regretting looking out of the window. The scenery was whipping by in a dizzying flurry and she felt the terror seep back to her again in full force.

She was terrified for many reasons. She was terrified that Jessica was going to get herself killed. And them in the process. That they were driving towards the dense black cauldron that sat on the horizon. She could see the clouds of black almost swirling and undulating above the rolling green lands. It had cast a shadow over the terrain and she felt like they were driving to the gates of Hell. She glanced at the speedometer and gulped. They were approaching Hell at 67 miles an hour. And climbing.

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"Ahhhhhhh!" She howled out in pleasure, " This is so fucking AMAZING!" She was cruising as fast as she could up the long road, her foot on the accelerator as close to the floor as she could get it. She held fast to the steering wheel, her knuckles white and almost at snapping point with tension, as she felt the pleasure surpass her fear. The scenery was whipping past her at a heart stopping speed but she didn't care. Even though the fear of what she was facing stood merely a mile a way she couldn't help laughing manically as the wind snatched at her hair and clothes. She felt out of control and for the first time in many days she let go of her anger and just enjoyed the moment.

"No more fear." She told herself resolutely, " I am going to die." She then laughed at herself hysterically. The motion almost made the car swerve off the road as she fought to bring it back straight. Her heart hammered against her chest as she managed to regain control of the car, the near loss of control feeling like she had just had a bucket of cold water thrown over her brought her back to her senses.

"What the fuck are you doing Myers?" She muttered under her breath, releasing the accelerator and slowing down a little, " Jesus that was close." Shaking her head slightly, she straightened her back and tried to regain her composure._ Calm. Calm. Calm_.

In her line of sight just before the black clouds she could see a house, barely kept together and stables next to it which were in even worse state of repair. _This is close enough_, she thought as she slowed the car down and pulled into a long sweeping drive that led up to the house. Putting the car into Park, she clambered out and quickly surveyed the area.

She ran around the side of the house towards the stables which by the looks of it would way to the slowly climbing crescendo of the winds._ It must be abandoned, _she reasoned as she saw no life around the two storey building. She felt a small flicker of sadness as she wondered how long this family home had been standing until the weather had nearly destroyed it. Her eyes surveyed the dangerous slant of the house, the shattered windows and large gaping holes in the wooden walls that almost allowed her to see through the whole floor to the other side. Almost all the possessions had been cleaned out, but she knew that it was a home. Someone's home. Someone had loved this house not so long ago. It was an old house but by the looks of the paint and the remnants of the now shredded garden it had been loved and maintained. Until this week.

"This ends now," She set her jaw, slipped the charm into the pocket of her jeans and ran into the stables. The roof was caving in, barely held together as it groaned under its own weight and the force of the gales blowing outside. It was and eerie sound like it was complaining about its wounds. Like the house it looked like it had been used until recently. There was still hay in the stalls and there were a couple of old saddles still hooked to the walls. The wind was banging the stall doors, the hay moving under the flurry of the ever increasing winds as the doors clattered rhythmically against the wooden poles. She dragged the saddles down to the floor, the dull shine on the old leather making her eyes prick with sadness, her heart pull sympathetically to its owners, as she imagined that less than a week ago its owner had probably been lovingly polishing and buffing it.

Looking around the long room she found what she was looking for at the far end. The large stone sink, which she figured to be at least six feet long was only about 3 feet off the floor but had large stone legs that had two long thick metal pipes running along the bottom of the sink and the inside of the leg, into the ground. It was a large piece of stone that had been carved into one solid piece. She figured that it probably weighed about three quarters of a ton. She hoped that the weight of it alone would withstand the force of the wind. Either that or she would be crushed and put out of her misery.

She ran over to the saddles, much to her frustration her fingers were numb and fumbling with fear as she lifted the skirt of the saddle and undid the clasps holding the stirrup leathers. "Come on, come on," she cried out in frustration. With relief they finally came off and she moved to the thick girth belt undoing the clasps. She dropped the metal stirrups off the end of the leather stirrups and worked on combining the leather straps to reinforce them so they were strong enough to hold her to the metal pipes.

She could hear the wind howling and whistling outside and she knew she had little time. It was nearly here for her.

"Jessica!" She looked up as her name rang out around the abandoned stables, to see an extremely dishevelled Mulder and Scully running towards her. They were seriously fucked off. Mulder grabbed her arms, as she dropped the leather straps and dragged her to her feet. "You are going back to D.C in fucking handcuffs!" He shouted at her, his face only inches away, shaking her so hard she swore she could feel her teeth rattling.

Jessica snapped out of her terror at his force, her eyes squeezing shut as she kick hard him in the shin breaking his hold and pushed him away. She backed away quickly to the sink, her eyes never leaving his face and felt a wave of anger engulf her, "Fuck you! Did you not think that I could see what you were doing back there?" She shouted scornfully, " Do you not think that I haven't seen you do that countless times, even to Scully!"

Her temper was getting the better of her she knew it, but she couldn't help rising to it and allowing it to come out in full force. The look of unrestrained anger had scared her more than she had ever been before. Her fathers temper was nothing in comparison, and she had felt the brunt of his towering rage in her short life and been scared. Mulder's anger petrified her.

"You're problem, every fucking adult in this fucking universe have the same problem. You keep underestimating me!" She screamed at him, as Scully stood between the two of them watching with horror as they glared daggers at each other. She had never seen Mulder lose his temper like he had just now. It was so awe inspiring that it had momentarily paralysed her.

" I am sick of being treated like a fucking idiot! I AM GOING TO DO THIS!" Jessica's tears that had welled in anger now cascaded down her face, as her breathing came in great gulps. She could feel her adrenaline rush through her veins her hairs stand on end as she chose to fight although her body was in position to flee.

"ENOUGH!" Scully's voice rang out above the howling winds and stable doors banging wildly against their frames. "Both of you enough! We have to get out of here. NOW!" The pair of them each on one side loomed over her as they stared at each other. She was suddenly aware of just how small she was but she saw with some satisfaction that their bodies had started to recede back to their usual stances, the equivalent of their hackles once raised almost painfully started to calm and their fight stances almost melted before her eyes.

Suddenly with a groan which sounded like the room was screaming, and the splintering of wood that screeched with the force of it being ripped away, the roof of the stable wrenched itself from its less than sturdy walls, taking the wooden partitions with it. All three of them looked up in horror as the blood drained from their faces, the ground shook with a violence that only mother nature could impact the earth with, as the ominous black mass touched the green fields less than five hundred feet away.

The time had come and it was now ready for her.


	17. Chapter 17

"Oh my god" Scully breathed in terror at the spectacular, but horrifying sight. Her blue eyes widened, in the half light making them look wildly out of proportion to her small heart shaped face. All three of them stood stock still in what seemed to be an everlasting second, watching the undulating gun metal grey mass move sinuously towards the large farm house. It was beautiful in its petrifying form. The shape was inconsistent, blurred around the edges of its column, it gave off hues of blue, black, purple and white. Electric blue flashed intermittently in the depth of the swaying colours, followed milliseconds later by a crackling that could be heard like gunshots across the whistling winds. It rumbled with impending doom and like a monster it swallowed and devoured everything in it's wake. It was truly the most awe inspiring and terrifying sight that could be beheld. Nature's gift of combining the most beautiful and chilling creations was once again proven in that moment.

"Help me!" Jessica yelled at them in panic, tearing away from the impending horror and throwing herself to her knees on the floor, she desperately clawed at the clasps on the other saddles trying to release the leather straps.

"Jessica! We have to get to the car!" Scully cried out trying to make her voice carry over the din of the howling wind and stepping towards the teenager's prone figure to bring her up off her knees. Almost as if it heard her the tornado picked up the car, as they watched in fascination the cars alarm system kicked in and blinkered pathetically as it was picked up with a screech of metal and thrown unceremoniously into a patch of trees in an explosion of bright yellow fire.

Jessica looked down at the straps as if it hadn't happened and with even more resolve continued to fumble with the clasps, immediately joined by Mulder on one of the other saddles. Scully continued to watch in abject disbelief as the pick up truck was crushed under the weight of a feeding trough which landed squarely on its roof. The wind was picking up into a crescendo and she could barely stay on her knees without being swept up in its warm embrace and blown away. She could hear the house shaking and creaking, finally succumbing to the force of the winds and being lifted piece by piece until all that was left was the concrete foundations.

Finally, with Mulder's help they managed to hastily feed the straps through each other and secure them together like she had on her previous attempt which lay currently discarded on the floor where she had dropped it. Scully swiped it up, and proceeded to loop it around the metal pipes under the water basin. She watched in trepidation as the stable walls creaked and swayed violently against the sink and around her.

She felt with certainty that they were going to die. She looked down despondently at the leather straps and could not believe that they were relying on something that looked so flimsy to anchor them through something so powerful. She suddenly wished, with a sadness that grew in her, that she had spoken to her mum before they had flown out. When was the last time she had called her? _A week ago_. Her mother would hear of her demise and would once again have to grieve for another lost daughter. Scully had been lost when Emily had died, how could she possibly even begin to imagine the grief that her mother would experience losing two children? Scully could feel her heart break at the thought. She resolved to make sure that if they lived through this that she would call and visit her more often.

"Get under!" Mulder shouted over the noise, close to Jessica his hand holding her arm protectively pulling her to the sink as their clothes and hair whipped and snagged in the powerful gale. She nodded and slid under the basin, proceeding to wrap the straps around the metal pipe and buckling them securely. Her heart was hammering against her rib cage, as she could feel the wood which ran flush to the back of the sink groan ominously and rattle against her back.

Mulder grabbed Scully's arm but before he could help her duck in under the sink she turned and grabbing his neck pulled his head down into a goodbye kiss. They were both certain they were going to die. She pulled away and they looked into each others eyes each conveying how much they loved each other and the sorrow that it would be over so soon when they had just embarked on their new journey. It lasted seconds, but with their eyes they had endless conversations declaring a promised love that would last forever.

_I will be with you forever. _Her azure eyes told him as they glistened with unshed tears.

_Wait for me, I will find you in the next life whatever it takes. _His deep sea green eyes beseeched her.

He pulled her hand up to his lips, never breaking the gentle gaze he bestowed on her and kissed the soft skin with tender lips. He held her hand to his heart squeezing it briefly and reluctantly pulled her away from him to push her under the sink. She moved from him unwillingly but resigned and positioned herself next to Jessica allowing her to help her buckle into the makeshift strap that was attached to metal pipe.

Jessica felt like her heart was breaking. She had momentarily forgotten the danger that travelled so menacingly towards them as she had watched the exchange first in joy at seeing them finally kiss to then realise that it would potentially be their last kiss. She felt the tears of regret gush down her face and guilt engulfed her like a smothering blanket. This wasn't the first time they had kissed it was obvious this wasn't a new sudden declaration of love in the face of death. It was a goodbye that only lovers would share. Her memory flashed to the discussion at the dinner table the other day and her surprise at Mulder staring so avidly at Scully across the table. They must have told each other that day. For whatever reason, they had confessed their long held feelings to each other only days before and tragically would die before they could pursue them. All because she had forced them into this situation.

Jessica kept her eyes averted from Scully's as she helped her, she didn't care if the older woman thought that she was crying because she was terrified. Let her think that. It didn't help that Scully grabbed her arm with a reassuring squeeze and smiled at her encouragingly, bravely, in the face of danger to try to pacify the teenager.

Jessica finally looked her in the eye, begging her forgiveness, she whispered, " I am so sorry." Scully's eyes looked through her like lasers to her soul and realised the source of her sorrow.

With another reassuring squeeze on her arm she nodded sadly conveying to her that she was forgiven.

Mulder was now buckled in and behind Scully with her back to him, and Jessica facing them both. He fed his arm under Scully's head and snaked it across her torso, clinging to her petite waist, wrapping his large body around her with every intention of protecting every inch of her regardless if he died in the process. He hooked and wedged his feet around the metal pipe at the other end of the sink, anchoring himself in the framework. His free hand groped out past Scully's small body in the near darkness and caught Jessica's arm. She jumped involuntarily, and felt his protective hand grip behind her elbow. She got the gist of what he wanted to do and scooting down slightly she also anchored her feet around the metal pipe and hooked her arm back over his arm also gripping his elbow so they were locked over Scully. With a small shuffling motion she was able to free her arm from under herself and looped her arm around the metal pipe above her head for support.

Their eyes adjusted slightly as they waited almost breathlessly for the inevitable onslaught that was getting closer. Only seconds passed when finally one of the boards behind Jessica ripped out of its foundation and the strength of the winds buffeted against her back pulling her hair and clothes. Almost immediately Jessica tightened her body to the grip, and closed her eyes in concentration ducking her head forward to the sheer force that was exerting on her. Her body felt like it would snap in seconds, the pressure like a g force, constricted her lungs making it hard to breathe, her bones and muscles were on fire, taut and standing proud. She gritted her teeth to almost breaking point, against the pull of the straps against her ribs, cutting into her unmercifully as it kept her barely pinned to the ground. The wind howled into her eardrums, pressure building as if she was diving deep, deep into an ocean. She could feel the vibrations of the metal pipes through her ankles and hand as they grew cold and numb. The sink above her shifted threateningly, but stood steadfastly in the tempest. Its protection was only fleeting, any second it could be whipped up into the torrent leaving them with nothing but deeply situated pipes to cling to.

Then it stopped suddenly and she felt her body drop an inch or so to land resolutely on the concrete floor. The silence was deafening in comparison to what she had felt before, the only thing alleviating her worry that her eardrums hadn't burst from the pressure making her deaf, was the sound of rustling like dry autumn leaves skipping across pavements. Their combined breathing in the small space was ragged and loud.

She gingerly looked up in the darkness to see Mulder's face buried in Scully's hair his exerted breathing causing her red locks to stir erratically against his mouth and against her ear. Scully had her head rested on the ground, tilted back looking over her shoulder at Mulder with her eyes closed and relief imprinted on every feature of her face. Jessica moved her feet, relaxing her aching ankles from around the pipe. She allowed her body to relax slightly trying to calm her breathing and closed her eyes briefly in relief. They had survived the first assault.

She lifted her head to look at the damage over Mulder's broad shoulder and felt her jaw drop at the sight that greeted her.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own the X Files or Twister and any associated characters

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Jessica relaxed her body and deftly undid the clasps of the restraint strapped against her chest, wriggling in the small confined space. Scully felt her moving and quickly made a grab for her arm, "Jessica, No!" Her hand hand grasping at her but unable to take hold.

"Scully, there's no time! I have to get out of here!" She squirmed away, and managed to manoeuvre out of the cramped area, moving her body around the small pieces of wood that now jutted from the concrete foundation. She clenched her teeth, her breath hissing a little as she felt the wood scrape against her exposed back, where her t-shirt had ridden up. She stood up facing the constant moving wall of air and her head fell back in wonder as she took in the mass that reached the dark sky above it. Above her, the air crackled with an almost clear blue electricity, that shot across from one side to the other creating a web like effect as it joined and collided with each bolt. The blue hue reflected off her face and dark hair, giving her an ethereal aura. She could hear a distant rumble as if the wall muffled a predator growling behind it, posed, waiting to strike.

"Jessica!" Both Mulder and Scully yelled at her, their voices ricocheting in the near quiet area. She looked down to see them struggling against their restraints trying to release themselves and she quickly moved around the sink towards the middle of the eye. The area of near stillness, a perfect circle, was hedged by constant moving walls, a vacuum within a cylinder.

In the middle, the ground was charged and sparkling like diamonds as the lightning struck in jagged bolts. It was arching, cracking like a whip, concentrated on one small area, intensifying in its brilliance. Jessica knew that she only had seconds before the walls would start to slowly start moving across the area and her chance would be gone, her body would be swept into the ensuing tsunami of air and be obliterated in its wake.

As she reached the other side of the sink she felt Mulder's large hand clasp her jean clad leg and cling to her ankle, nearly unbalancing her. She threw out her arms to save herself from falling backwards, catching the edge of the stone basin. She ducked quickly struggling against his hold and felt his other hand grab her wrist.

"Mulder Let go!" She cried in panic, he was holding onto her in desperation, his fingers latched tightly around her wrist. She could feel the skin bruising under the strong fingers, feel his pulse beating erratically through the soft pads.

His anger was gone, he now had look of panic on his face as he held her steadfastly. "Jessica, get back under here!" He pleaded, as he let go of her leg and grabbed her other wrist pulling her towards him with all the strength he could muster. Scully was behind him reaching for her as he drew her nearer to them. Jessica knew that she couldn't fight his strength despite her height advantage, and even though she had given him a swift kick to the shins moments before she wouldn't attack him to free herself.

"Mulder, let me go! I don't have time!" She swiftly looked over her shoulder at the lightning and walls of the tornado, almost feeling with dread that they would start shifting, and in spite of her struggles felt her jaw drop. In the last flash of lightning she had seen something, something in the arc of light.

"Look, look!" She beseeched him inclining her head to the images, "Look!"

His eyes quickly diverted to the spot that she was staring at, and he finally saw what she had seen. In the intermittent flares of light, he could see Jessica lying in a hospital bed surrounded by monitors and IV drips, a small woman watching her standing next to her bedside, holding her bandaged hand. He felt Scully exhale in shock next to his ear as she witnessed what they were seeing. It was like a badly damaged film, an image flickering for a nano second on each flash.

"Let me go Mulder." He tore his eyes away from the faded images, she smiled at him tenderly, her eyes softening affectionately at him, "Let me go." She whispered.

His moss green eyes roamed over her face, drinking in her features as he furiously thought of his options. He could feel her pulse through his fingers and even though her heart beat was galloping, her face was peaceful, reconciled. He couldn't deny the images that he had just seen, she had been right all along to follow her gut feeling. This was meant to be her way home. He knew with a sudden certainty that she wasn't going to die. They were never meant to save her only harbour her spirit as safely as they could until she finally figured out her way home. They were simply destined to be her guardians for a short amount of time, she was _meant_ to find them, and in doing so fated to follow the path, her own yellow brick road, to it's inevitable conclusion.

He let go of her wrists with reluctance and felt her hands slide through his hands, her fingers hooking onto the end of his digits, giving them a reassuring squeeze before letting them go, her gaze and smile never faltering. She ducked under the basin, her arms embracing them both, her head between them, she hugged them tightly and gave them each a swift, tear filled kiss on the cheek, "Thank you for everything."

She pulled away, scrambling to her feet she walked determinedly towards the lightning. She paused slightly before the it and dug the charm out of her jeans pocket. She lightly pressed it to her lips, and whispered, "Please let them survive." She closed her eyes, and taking a shuddering breath she clutched the charm in her hand tightly, and stepped resolutely into the arch of light.

Mulder and Scully watched in impotent horror as the web of diamonds engulfed Jessica. Everything almost stopped. The walls of air ground to a slow speed, they could see large pieces of wood and debris suspended in the folds of the wind tunnel, gliding by in slow motion. Each movement was deliberate and focused.

Jessica's body rose a foot of the ground, her head threw back and her arms splayed out. She looked like she was suspended in glittering water, her dark hair floated sluggishly around her bathed in a silver glow and her limbs drifted limply. As the jagged splinters of light hit faster and more intensely they started to pierce the cocoon, illuminating the viscous atmosphere with dazzling bursts as they exploded around her. Slowly, a shimmering sparkle emanating from the ends of her extremities, her fingers, her toes, the ends of her long hair, radiated towards the middle of her. It glimmered as it coated her until the silver reached her heart, and her body faded where it had touched her as if she was being washed away.

With one last flash of blinding light, that zig zagged with deathly speed down the long vortex of the tunnel, it struck her and she vanished.

Suddenly, everything sped forward with an ungainly lurch, as if time was starting again with a loud groan. Mulder had enough time to turn his body to envelop Scully's petite frame once more before the wall moved towards them. She clung to him, her fingers wrapping tightly around his protective arm and the other hand gripping the leather strap, their legs entwining around each others. They bowed their heads, hers pressed against his chest, his against her forehead their eyes clamped shut in concentration. They both realised with alarm that the stone basin, already having been assaulted and dislodged by the first onslaught, started to move with the force of the tornado, reluctantly being prised from its steady perch. With a loud creaking the basin wrenched itself from the sturdy metal pipes, and was lifted in the tumultuous winds.

They both cried out in desperation as their protection left them, and they could feel their bodies rise from the ground, the wind buffeting and moving around them in eddy's. They couldn't breathe as their lungs clamped down under the pressure, the tension on their bodies causing their muscles to cramp as they were pulled against the restraints and the roaring in their ears reached an unbearable crescendo.

Suddenly, it stopped. As if the invisible barrier that had kept them suspended disappeared they fell, and landed heavily against the hard floor. After a couple of seconds, Scully still with her eyes clamped shut asked fearfully, " Is it over?"

She felt Mulder rustle against her as he looked around and laughed with relief, "Yeah... it's over."

Her eyes snapped open and met his soft green eyes, twinkling in the dusky light. Without another word she pitched herself forward and kissed him desperately, with a clash of lips and teeth. Their kiss softened slightly but deepened into one of passion, as the burst pipes above them sprayed water over them.

A resounding boom behind Mulder, that shook the ground with a resonating vibration underneath them, made them jump violently. They tore away from each other, and sat up quickly, slightly hindered by the leather straps, to look at the source of the noise.

"Er... Scully, I think we should maybe make a move." Mulder ventured haltingly, she nodded in agreement with widened eyes.

The large stone basin was embedded in the ground, vertically, less than twenty feet away from where they lay.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own the X Files etc.

I upped the rating for the later chapters due to adult content. I am posting the last two chapters together to complete both stories, Mulder and Scully's as well as Jessica's. Thanks for the reviews and follows as always guys x

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Mulder and Scully took their customary positions opposite A.D Skinner. Scully surreptitiously yawned behind her hand and cursed her tired itchy eyes. They had got home last night just before two am. They had apprised Skinner of the situation with Jessica just after they had left the site and made their way to the local police station. Luckily there had been a flight at just gone ten and instead of having to stay the night, they were thankful they could sleep in their own homes after such a long couple of days. She had gratefully fallen into bed, battered, bruised and tired beyond recognition without even bothering to shower even though she knew she still had bits of dirt and leaves in her hair. For the first time in her life she hadn't cared.

Skinner had mercifully told them to pop in the next afternoon for a meeting to discuss their reports, giving them the chance to sleep in and recover. She watched tiredly as Skinner scanned the report reading the circumstances, intermittently raising his eyebrows at certain facts.

"So your report states that Jessica was struck by lightning and she... what just disappeared into thin air?" Skinner asked in quiet disbelief. He removed his glasses dropping them on the open file in front of him and pinched the bridge of his nose. The facts were beyond the usual that Mulder usually provided and that was saying something. The fact that he had seen images of Jessica in a hospital bed in the flashes of lightning seem to stretch even his patience. He would have taken it with a pinch of salt had Scully not submitted the same version of events. It was one of the first times that their version of events completely coincided.

"Yes sir." Mulder seemed completely at ease with the line of questioning, dealing with it in his normal offhand manner as if he had been talking about the weather. He shifted in the chair, perfectly at ease in his jeans, t-shirt and leather jacket. It never ceased to amaze her that even the most incredible sights never seemed to phase him.

She knew that she would never forget the image of Jessica floating in mid air and the strange light that seemed to engulf her as the lightning had struck her. It had probably made it into her top twenty rankings of her weird shit meter, along with identity-morphing alien bounty hunters, flukemen and Tooms who were currently among the top five spots. She had given up on the there being just a top ten after only having worked with him for about eighteen months, everything around Mulder warranted a spot on a weird shit meter, whether she believed what she was seeing or not.

"I believe that my revised theory that she can astral project is the closest explanation. I still think that the lightning and storm were conduits between the universes but I think she had the gift to astral-project anyway, it was just heightened by the atmospheric pressures." He explained quietly, brushing aside his boss' disbelief. He hadn't seen what he had. Maybe if he had he would believe that Jessica was home now.

"I am certain that she did not die. I have never been more sure about anything else sir, she managed to get home and she is safe now in her own universe." Skinner nodded accepting the assured certainty in his voice and allowing himself the relief to believe she was now finally safe.

"Agent Scully, I think that this is a first that I have seen in six years that your report and conclusions corroborate Agent Mulder's. I think that this may warrant being classified as an X File in it's own right."

She allowed him a small smile at his joke and nodded. "Yes, sir. Although there is still no substantial evidence that Jessica is from a parallel universe I did witness the same things as agent Mulder in the eye of the storm and also believe that Jessica was returned to wherever she came from. I can also confirm that the images that we both saw, seem to lay weight to support Mulder's belief that she was in a coma... somewhere else." She smiled and rolled her eyes as she could feel Mulder's beaming grin to the left of her.

"Don't get used to it Mulder." She told him firmly, smiling in spite of herself. Skinner chuckled at her response and Mulder's obvious glee. He glanced down at the folder with some satisfaction, glad that it was resolved in the best possible way regardless of the distress it had caused his team before it was concluded. It was so rare in their line of work that cases were resolved without a painful outcome for the parties involved or the initial victims. In this case Jessica had made it home. This was a positive outcome. His mood dampened a little at the thought of what he had found on his desk this morning and the possible implications.

"Agents, there is something else." Skinner told them quietly as he opened his desk drawer and handed them what looked like a newspaper clipping. Scully took the small piece of paper and gasped at the picture on it. It was a picture of Krychek laughing, next to a small, thin teenager with bobbed, blond hair and braces who looked to be about Jessica's age. She was laughing as well but facing the camera. The look of affection on Krychek's face directed at the young girl was evident. She quickly scanned the headline and felt her stomach drop. "Man found dead in apartment from gunshot wound to temple."

She silently passed the clipping to Mulder watching for his reaction. Mulder's expression flitted between hatred and sympathy as he quickly read the article.

Skinner had picked up his glasses and was polishing them with a small cloth, studiously not looking at the agents as they read the article. He placed the glasses on the bridge of his nose and sighed, " This was on my desk this morning. I think we all know why Krychek was killed but I am unsure if this is a warning."

"I think by now sir that they know she is gone. We have to assume that there is some heavy surveillance on us. In light of Jessica's kidnapping we have to assume that our apartments and office have been bugged. We intend to resolve that this weekend." He informed him, he had not been surprised that they had been bugged but it had been an unwelcome confirmation of what he had long believed. They had agreed on the way home last night that they would have to address the issue and search thoroughly through their personal and work spaces. Skinner agreed and quietly resolved to do the same to his office and home. Krychek's recent attack on him had left him wary of the potential of a forever threat of an impending assault.

" It was obviously the last straw for Spender in regards to Krychek's transgressions. They lost a chance to potentially harness an astounding power from her experiences. I can't imagine the damage they could inflict if they had the power to move through time and space like Jessica had accidentally done. It doesn't bare thinking about." Mulder said feeling a sense of relief at the near miss. "Although, the need to make it look like a suicide seems a little high handed for them, considering we have seen first hand their usual practice of murder. They are so above the law that they don't usually bother to cover their tracks."

" I think that they made it look like a suicide for Mira's sake. No repercussions from it, no potential for revenge or investigations." Scully pointed out," Mira states in that article that she doesn't understand why he would take his life, that she had only seen him the month before and he was happy and relaxed. She obviously didn't know the line of work that he was in." She felt a pang of sympathy for the girl. She would obviously spend the rest of her life not understanding why a member of her family would take his life and replaying her last conversations with him questioning and wondering if she had missed something of significance.

"I think this explains why he let Jessica go." Mulder stated quietly, indicating to the picture with a small wave of his hand.

"I didn't know that he had any family members, from what I have managed to find on him it looked like he had no surviving immediate family members although it's not a stretch that he has a cousin. " Skinner mused. "This girl obviously provided the photo."

Mulder placed the cutting on the table and looked over at Scully. "I have been trying to figure out why he let Jessica go..." He shrugged, " Maybe he identified with Jessica because of this girl, Mira. It was probably the thing that saved Jessica, that sense of conflict he obviously felt seeing her just as vulnerable as his younger cousin. Who knew the cold-hearted bastard could love someone other than himself?"

Scully pursed her lips tightly and nodded. She hated this man, yes she felt remorse for the poor girl who was heartbroken by his death but she felt only justice and possibly a little relief at his demise. He was a constant threat from the shadows and he had never paid for his cold, calculated murder of her sister and Mulder's father or Skinner's recent illness. He had also had a personal involvement with her abduction. God only knew how many lives he had taken and/or ruined in his career. Scully felt a sense of justice that he had finally paid for his actions with his life, despite ironically enough the fact that he had been killed because for the first and only time he had shown some compassion for one of his 'jobs'. The world was a better, safer place without Alex Krychek.

"Alright agents, thank you for coming in for this meeting. Take the rest of the week off. I will see you on Monday." He ordered as Mulder and Scully rose from their chairs, secretly pleased they had a long weekend to themselves.

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After their meeting with Skinner they made their way down to their office. Mulder took Jessica's purse out of his jeans pocket and rifled through it looking at the photos and the small, fake green card that he had asked the guys to get her. He smiled down at her laughing face, and remembered the way she had squealed when she had seen the embossed card, throwing her arms around him in a flurry of dark hair and long arms. They had butted heads a couple of times, to the point where she had pushed his temper past control but he knew that she was a good kid in a bad situation. He was content with the fact that they had helped her and that she was back where she should be. Despite her insistence that he couldn't save her, that she wasn't his sister, to let her go, he had protected her. He truly believed that he and Scully were meant to be her guardians in the plans to get her home. They had done what they could and it had paid off.

Scully stood next to him watching the raw feelings etched on his face. "You saw your sister in her didn't you?" She asked gently, placing her hand on his arm and nodding towards the photos.

He sighed as he placed them back in their respective pockets, the way she had left them and put the purse in a small, clear plastic bag. "Of all the missing children cases I have worked on I felt a real sense of hope in this one. I truly believed I could get her home to her family." She reached for a stapler on his desk and silently handed it to him, watching as he attached it to the file and deposited it in the large grey filing cabinet.

"You did Mulder." She pointed out, " Even though she told you that you couldn't save her, you did save her. She is home." She told him firmly. " We both _know_ that. And for once it's a happy ending."

He nodded and bit his lip thoughtfully, "The more I got to know her the more she was exactly how I imagined my sister would have been at that age. Beautiful, intelligent, and just as hot headed and stubborn as her big brother. I only knew Samantha until she was eight but despite seeing those adult clones of her I always felt like she wasn't quite what I had pictured her as."

Scully agreed with him, "It did cross my mind a couple of times, it was pretty uncanny the similarities between the two of you. When I first met her I just thought that she could physically pass as your sister and it was her situation you were empathising with but it wasn't until we got to know her more that I would have readily believed that she could quite easily be Samantha." She grinned at him, "I think your similar, um _characteristics_ was probably why you guys stood toe to toe so many times just in the couple of days she was with us."

He laughed wistfully and shook his head. "She would have made my teenage life a misery. You know I am glad that she landed in our lives despite all the havoc that she caused."

She smiled at him warmly and entwined her fingers through his pulling him towards the door, " Yeah I am too although I could have lived without the tornado scenario. Kansas is now definitely off my list of places to visit. Come on Mulder lets go home." He laughed as he let her lead him out of their basement office.

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Scully sauntered back into her bedroom in her pyjamas, towel drying her wet hair as Mulder lounged on her bed reading a book with his small glasses perched on the end of his large nose. She smiled at him warmly, her eyes raking over his toned body, donned only in his sweats, as he lay sprawled on her comfortable bed. She still marvelled at her self control, fighting the urge for so long, to resist throwing herself at him and ravaging him. He was so handsome, and in his relaxed state he seemed to radiate alluring sexiness. He leered good-naturedly at her and waggled his eyebrows as if he had caught her reading her naughty thoughts.

She blushed slightly, and covering her nervousness she got into the bed nudging him to move up. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her down into the bed as he shuffled back to make room for her. "I don't want to wrestle." She told him playfully.

"Ahh Scully you're no fun." He told her pulling her back against his stomach and wrapping his arms around her, hugging her petite frame against him. She sighed contentedly, as she could feel the warmth of his body through her emerald green silk pyjamas and his breath on her neck. He kissed her skin softly, smiling as he could feel goosebumps raise slightly and the shivers tingle down her spine against his own skin. He felt her hold her breath as his large hand moved down the soft skin of her exposed lower back and slink under her pyjama top, to settle on her flat stomach. "Breathe Scully," he whispered huskily in her ear, nibbling her earlobe. She let her breath out in a sudden rush and chuckled softly in spite of her nervousness.

Her breath hitched as his warm hand slowly moved up her soft silky skin of her taut stomach over her ribs, and settled just below the delicious curve of her breast. He softly rubbed his thumb under the swell of her breast, she could feel her nipples harden in response to his touch as she moaned quietly. She pushed her body further back against his lap, his legs moving up to spoon her and she could feel his arousal rubbing against her. He groaned in response to the intimate touch against his throbbing groin and tried hard to steady his hammering heartbeat. He could feel the heat coming from her below the thin layer of silk, and he had to cling to his last shred of control to not rip the bottoms of her in an animalistic urge that permeated his clouded brain. Breathing in controlling breaths that flurried her silky hair against his lips, he moved his hand to cup her breast and knead the swelling mound eliciting a deep moan from her that pulled at his stomach muscles. Her head fell back gently against his face, she was panting lightly as her body responded to his touch, which made her core muscles contract inside her.

It felt so right, so unrushed, despite their need for each other and the yearnings they had kept at bay for the years they had know each other they knew that they would take it slow. They would take their time, savour each second with each touch. She turned her body back to him, and looked into his deep green eyes, eyes that she had felt herself fall into countless times. They smiled at each shyly, agreeing with mutual trust, without words, to embark on the final and only leg of the journey that they until now not dared to wish for.

He reached his hand up, entwining his fingers in her hair and gently pulled her forward. Softly he kissed her generous lips, allowing her scent to permeate his senses, drinking in her essence and deepened the kiss. His tongue gently flickered against her, begging for entrance and she reciprocated, with each second passing feeling the desire start to hurry their movements. Her delicate hands traced his back lightly grazing with her manicured nails, causing delicious shivers to run down his body. Without breaking the hot, sensuous kiss he started to unbutton her top. She raised her leg heavily, feeling like she was made of lead, her movements sluggish and helpless, with the lust that hammered through her veins.

She entwined her leg between his, feeling the silk pull against her tingling skin, she pushed her leg higher until her thigh rubbed softly with his groin making them both gasp at the contact. As the silk of her top fluttered down to her sides, scraping lightly at her hyper sensitive breasts making them ache unbearably, she sighed into his mouth making him groan again against her lips. He reluctantly pulled away from the kiss missing the heat from her mouth, but he couldn't stop himself he had to see for himself the breasts that he had been dreaming about for so long. She allowed him to push her gently so she was lying on her back watching him look at her. She smiled patiently as his eyes took in her soft, creamy complexion, she was breathing heavily, her chest flushed and dusky pink nipples taut and hard.

"God you're so beautiful" She blushed at his compliment as he lowered his head between the swell between her breasts, he left a hot, wet trail of kisses moving to the pert nipple he took it in his mouth sucking gently and nibbling. Her head threw back against the pillow in ecstasy, she started panting twining her fingers into his soft brown hair as he moved to the other breast.

"Jesus Scully," he moaned his hot breath against her breast, she tugged at his hair her other hand moving to his shoulder and clawing at the skin. He felt the track marks sting slightly but it just heightened his lust.

"Mulder... please, please," She begged breathlessly. His hand snaked down to her pyjama bottoms, he slipped them off easily and threw them on the floor. He grazed the inside of her thigh lightly, raising his hand to the glossy, fire red curls at her apex, he ran his fingers gently against her wet core. She whimpered and keened breathlessly as he let the slick, warm essence that was all and only her, ran over fingers. The smell of her arousal overtook him and he fought hard against the pull in his groin trying control himself. He was desperate for it not to end too soon. He slid his jogging bottoms off discarding them with her pyjama bottoms, releasing his throbbing member with relief as it strained against the restrictive material.

He gently rolled on top of her, she slowly spread her legs under him relishing the contact of soft skin as her silky thighs rubbed against his muscular upper thighs. She reached down tracing her long fingernails down his toned stomach and settled her hand on his erect member. She smiled at him, her blue eyes heavy with lust and started stroking with deft hands. His head snapped back in pleasure as she carried out her ministrations. He grabbed her wrist, not needing to tell her that she was undoing him, he raised her hand and kissed it softly and gently let go.

He settled himself between her legs, kneeling he moved forward and snaking his arms around her back he pulled her up and sat back on his feet with her straddling him. They kissed heatedly, he slipped his hand under the collar of the top she was still wearing and felt it flutter behind her as it slid off her shoulders and down her arms onto the bed. He gently lifted her hips, and placed her over him she slowly lowered herself down onto him. They both let out a guttural moan as he slid into her, her muscles contracting tightly, hot, wet and slick. Mulder bit his lip hard, drawing blood, praying that he didn't release yet. One more moan and he would be undone. Feeling his control coming back he slowly started moving against her, sliding in and out in long, leisurely thrusts. Her head thrown back as she climbed higher, he could feel her insides contracting around him, as they moved in tandem both of them so close to the final moment.

"ahh fuck Scullliiee," A light sheen of perspiration broke out over their bodies, he could feel it running down his back, feel it on his lips against her breast as her back arched back to allow him to suck on her nipple.

"mmmm...sooo-gooood, Mulderr... pleeease " She was keening and mewling, through breathy pants, her voice growing louder as she got closer clawing her nails down his back. They started thrusting against each other in wild abandon as they could feel their imminent release. She grabbed his head and kissed him feverishly, he lowered his hand and with one small stroke against her clit she cried out, and her body tightened in his arms, he felt his own release with painfully sweet ecstasy as her muscles clamped down hard on him. They rode the waves of intense pleasure together their foreheads slick with sweat pressed against each other, breathing and whimpering against each others mouths.

As they came down from their euphoria, breathing heavily as if they had run for miles, he kept his arms around her and she rested her head in the crook of his neck her arms lazily wrapped around his neck. Their bodies felt boneless, heavy with sated pleasure. They sat for minutes, still entwined as one, their bodies plastered against each other and sticky, feeling each others heartbeat pulse against their chests, through their lingering hands, and the thighs.

Mulder kissed her forehead and her neck lazily, his brain foggy with post coital bliss. " I love you so much." He whispered huskily against her earlobe, biting it gently.

She sighed happily, he could feel the warm breath tickle the crook of his shoulder, " I love you too Mulder." He pulled her gently away and kissed her softly on her lips, achingly they prised themselves apart, and lay down on the bed, she reached over pulling the sheet over them. He pulled her back to spoon her and wrapped his long arms around her tenderly.

Their breathing slowed, she started to slowly succumb to her post-coital sleepiness and with a reluctant pull her body relaxed and she fell asleep almost instantly. Mulder smiled into her neck, watching fixedly her hair with heavy sleepy eyes as it started to dry into silky soft curls against the white pillow. With the smell of her strawberry shampoo overtaking his senses, he closed his eyes sighing happily and fell into a dreamless sleep.


	20. Chapter 20

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Jessica opened her eyes groggily and blinked waiting for her eyes to clear. She could hear voices and could feel movement around her. She was lying on something soft. Then her eyes snapped opened as she heard a female voice. _I'm back! Am I back?!_ _I'm dreaming. Oh please please God let me not be dreaming_.

"Mum." Her voice sounded raspy to her, she tried to swallow past the dryness in her mouth, her throat felt like sandpaper.

"I'm right here sweetheart, I'm right here baby, oh God Jessica, oh God, thank you thank you." Rachel Myers whispered thankfully into her daughters hand she held against her tear stained face, as she looked hungrily over her face. The soft brown eyes that she had feared that she would never again see, glistened with unshed tears as they met her own red rimmed and tired green eyes.

"I made it back." She whispered as her heart sang at the miracle that had happened, that somehow she had made it home, "I had to get home mum, I made it back." She flopped her heavy head back onto the pillow and allowed the grateful tears that had sat suspended to flow. Her mother sat on the edge of the bed with her, moving her arms under Jessica's back she encased Jessica's body with her own. She put her head onto her daughters chest, she couldn't rely on the steady beeping of the monitor next to her, she had to hear her daughters heart beating strongly in her chest to truely believe that she was finally with her again. Her mouth curled into a heart wrenching, silent howl as she heard the thumping of Jessica's heart beneath the wires and thin hospital gown. She was back and she would never let her leave again.

Jessica laid her hand on her mothers head, stroking her thick chestnut hair, and shushed her gently, as her mothers sobs reverberated through her body. The tears flowed from each of them with abandon.

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Present Day 2013

Jessica watched as her daughter Elizabeth looked up at her with eyes that glowed like emeralds. Jessica could see her mother in those glittering orbs and her heart once again melted with unrepressed love. She had believed that she had loved Rob with all heart and that nothing could match that love, until she had held Elizabeth for the first time, not realising until that moment that the small shell of a body she inhibited could possibly have this infinite capacity to love something so completely. Every fibre in her being was concentrated on this little angel, every breath that she took was for this child and every feeling and experience her baby ever experienced in her life would be felt and experienced triple fold in her mothers heart.

"Mummy, come look at the fishies." She implored her mother in her soft angelic voice, tugging on her mothers hand with her own small soft one. Jessica laughed and getting up from the soft sand she followed her daughter to the waters edge of the lake. Together they paddled in the warm water and giggled as the small, silver fish darted around their ankles.

Rob watched from his place at the small bonfire, at the pair of them stomping around in the water, splashing each other and laughing raucously. Elizabeth was six years old in less than a month and he shook his head at the marvel of time flying before his eyes, with the disconcerting feeling that he couldn't catch it. They had been married over eight years now and until last year had lived in Luxembourg moving there after Jessica had graduated with a first degree in International affairs. He had been so proud of her when she had got a job as a translator, her dream finally coming true, although it had been hard for them to adjust to a completely new life and country. It had all been worth it. His exporting business had flourished, with a lot of help from his wife and her contacts, and their lives couldn't be more complete.

Then Elizabeth had arrived and she had been the icing on the cake. They had moved to a little village just outside of Rome when Jessica had been promoted to a high end job in the Political Affairs division of the Italian Headquarters, and was the head translator for the relations with international institutions department. He had managed to set up his business in Rome as his own headquarters and now ran it in conjunction with the Luxembourg counterpart. Life was good.

He wondered how he could possibly be the luckiest man alive, someone was watching over them that was for sure. The hardest time that they had had to endure was when she had finally woken after being struck with lightening during that freak storm that had hit their little home town over fifteen years ago. They had been lucky that she had recovered considering the potential damage that it could have caused, that it had caused to other survivors. The list of ailments that others had suffered after their accidents made him grow cold as he shuddered at thought of what could have happened to Jessica. Organ failure, epilepsy, paralysis, loss of limbs due to extensive burns.

Yes she was lucky. She had lost the end digits to two of her middle fingers where her hand had touched the handle of the door and still had the now faint white feathery burn marks around her navel and chest area. Thank God she had been wearing her belly bar and necklace. The doctors had surmised that the jewellery had acted as an outlet, subsequently burning the metal to nothing and resulting in burns but keeping the power of the electric currents from touching her organs, spine or head. The doctors had been astounded by her recovery and her luck. Yes she had been very lucky.

He stoked the fire with the small branch that he had been twirling around his fingers whilst he mused. He watched as the embers flared and licked against the dry logs, feeling the renewed warmth engulf him in a wave of soft heat.

He was so proud of her. She had taken the loss of her fingertips and burns with great stoicism as if she had known that it was a small price to pay for her surviving such a horrific ordeal. He smiled as he recounted her babbling a story about having been in America and with _Mulder and Scully_ of all people! She had endured the incredulous looks and doubt that followed her story, he had jokingly called her Dorothy at the end of it followed by guffaws from the adults in the room.

She had simply smiled knowingly and had never mentioned it again.

His reverie was broken when Elizabeth bounded over him, and in a tangle of limbs, long blond hair and giggles they both fell backwards onto the soft sand.

"Daddy you were meant to catch me!" She told him off.

"Well, maybe if daddy had had a bit of warning from his little tornado he would have been able to," He quipped grabbing her and tickling her mercilessly. Her peals of squeals and laughter resounded into the quiet night.

" _Venga_, _mi corazon_ _angelica_ it's time for bed," Jessica picked her up off Rob tickling her under her ribs for good measure and drowning out the potential whiny "but mmuuuummmmyyyyy!" that she loved so much with the renewed squeals. She carried her in her arms to the tent and helping her into her p'js, laid her down on her small cot.

"Mummy, can daddy tell me a bed time story?" She implored with her large eyes buying herself some more awake time.

Jessica smiled at the transparency of her request and told her that she would send daddy in straight away giving her a goodnight kiss and cuddle exiting the tent. She sat under the stars with her mind peacefully blank as she heard him tell her the story of Sleeping Beauty with all the voices and actions that made Elizabeth watch him with quiet fascination, slowly letting her eyelids droop to her fathers soft voice as he ended the story.

He joined her ten minutes later, with a rueful smile he sat down next to her on the soft sand and watched the fire die slowly.

"I can't imagine my life without you, if I lost you... I love you so much." He told her with a small sigh, the light reflecting off his tanned face and soft blue eyes. She knew he had been brooding about her near miss all those years ago before they had even had a chance to explore the relationship they had just embarked on. She smiled softly at him and leaned in to give him a kiss. She felt her breath quicken as he returned it with all the feeling he could muster. Even after all these years he could still make her heart pound as his hand lingered across her breast and moved up into her hairline pulling her closer. She smiled into the kiss and she fell backwards with him never breaking it, each devouring the others body just as hungrily as they had their first time.

They made love under the stars and bright shining moon. After lying there for ages their limbs still entangled and snuggling whispering sweet nothings they decided to go to bed. Rob got up and grabbed his clothes, handing her her top and skirt and offering his hand to pull her up out of the sand. He smiled at her dishevelled appearance he could see the white sand in her hair glittering slightly under the starlight. She had never looked more beautiful.

"I just need a minute, I'll be with you in a minute," She whispered quietly. He nodded and bending down gave her a lingering kiss before returning to the tent.

She quickly pulled her clothes on, and resettled herself on the sand. She looked over the lake as the star shine and moonlight reflected off the still waters in breath taking beauty. The soft sand glittered under the stars and with a sigh of contentment, she truely felt at peace with her world.

She often thought about Mulder and Scully in the other universe. She had continued to watch the X Files right until the end of the series and then the movie that had followed a couple of years later. In the first couple of weeks after her return she had watched to see if there was any mention of her ordeal, any mention of her and had not in the least been surprised when the stories had continued completely unscathed by her touch in any way.

She had never mentioned her story again to anyone after dealing with the onslaught of the condescending, disbelief that she had received. The disbelief had turned to uncertainty though when they couldn't explain why or how she had the broken, charred charm clutched tightly in her injured hand when she had awoken from the coma. Rob had bought her the same charm for her bracelet and had replaced it before she had been revived. He had looked for it all over the front garden of her home when they had discovered it was missing. He had figured it could have simply broken prior to the accident and just to replace it hoping that she would never know.

She fondled the charm with her scarred, damaged fingers. It was attached to the bracelet with the unmarked one. It was her lucky charm. She had walked away practically unscathed by the experience and being so grateful to be home she had secretly felt that it was a small price to pay.

Her healed burns to her navel and chest looked like faded, white feathers. Her eight year old cousin Luke, who adored her and had been heartbroken when she was hurt, had told her that he believed that they were the marks of a guardian angel who had protected her, injuring and singeing her own wings in the process. Everyone in the room had been touched by this small child's belief, and somehow although she had accepted her injuries with great fortitude it had softened the blow slightly.

When people asked her about the charm, which stood out so dominantly against the shining silver and diamonds surrounding it, she told them that it was a reminder that life is short. This was too glib and cliche for her but still gave a superficial excuse to give to strangers for wearing something so damaged. She truly believed, _believes_, that it was placed in her hand by whatever, whoever, brought her back to serve as proof that what she had experienced in another world was real. Not just her imagination.

She had concluded, and had known in the deepest recesses of her heart, that in the universe that she had touched where Mulder and Scully were real people, their lives were not the ones that were reflected in the program that she had loved.

She had watched as the series' had progressed; crying for the characters as they endured merciless onslaughts of bad luck. She had felt their anguish at the failed IVF attempt, rejoiced when they had_ finally_ got together, cried with Scully when Mulder had died, been gutted when the Lone Gunmen had sacrificed themselves and had felt a twinge of nostalgia and regret when Krychek had been shot in the head although he had deserved it.

But she never believed it. She had felt in her heart that these poor reflections of the people that she had loved, were still in their universe living their lives completely out of tandem to the writings of the show's talented writer.

She closed her eyes momentarily letting her imagination roam; in her minds eye she could see Mulder, Scully and teenager William, tall and athletic with his father's dark good looks and mothers azure eyes, sitting at a dining table eating a good meal, laughing, joking and jibbing each other, all happy, no darkness, nothing but contentment.

She whispered quiet prayers, up to whatever higher beings were watching over them, with all the love that she felt in her heart for her old friends, that wherever they may be that they were happy and they would be together forever.

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Thanks for taking the time to read my fanfic. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks again for all the great reviews and follows, they really make my day :-) xxxxxxxxxx


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